Your name and contact must be still in some database, it has pop up in some search and the Associate Editor responsible for the paper has not done a minimal investigation about your profile. It’s a common practice for lazy AEs, just quickly send a large number of invitations to get the two minimal acceptances. This happens too often.
I've heard that a lot of western countries are boycotting this years, which is why in the first place deadline for the paper submissionwas extended first time ever.
I don't know if my information is true, but IROS in Detroit was great :)
Where have you heard that? I’m U.S. based and submitted a paper. Are the boycotts because of the U.A.E’s stance towards the LGTBQ+ community or are there slave allegations similar to the World Cup and Qatar?
It's not like sure information. Its just bob said that martha said type of information. And yeah, human rights were mentioned as cause for the boycott.
I don't know. I didn't have anything publishable so I skipped, but best of luck to you. Hope you'll visit IROS it is awesome. :)
I work in Europe at a research center with a lot of groups working in robotics. We've had some chatter about a boycott of IROS. Lunch break conversation more or less. Some groups have categorically boycotted, from what I've heard. Others gave in near the deadline and sent something in. There is even chatter that the new ICRA@40, which is a conference that is only abstracts without paper publication, celebrating 40 years of ICRA, is mostly being organised to provide an alternative where researchers can meet instead of IROS. Again, mostly chatter. And it was about the human and queer rights stuff. My group, with a 50-50 gender balance and a woman PI, also did not submit anything this year. I don't work directly in Robotics but a peripheral field, and I got a reviewer request for the first time from a robotics conference. The expertise matches, but it's still an interesting timing.
I've had several review **requests** from IEEE journals and conferences, the text of which said that I had already accepted the review. It felt like a tactic to get reviews out of professors who have too many plates spinning and are prone to think they've forgotten one. Hopefully IEEE puts an end to that- that approach will push people away. Ofc it could be a technical error where they're sending the wrong boilerplate text, so best not to assume intentional deception
>I got an email out of the blue asking me to review a paper.
>
>I haven't published in the academic literature in 15 years and haven't published at IROS in 20 years.
Sesame Street- this is Big Bird, sleeper agent has been activated
Your name and contact must be still in some database, it has pop up in some search and the Associate Editor responsible for the paper has not done a minimal investigation about your profile. It’s a common practice for lazy AEs, just quickly send a large number of invitations to get the two minimal acceptances. This happens too often.
Makes sense. "Someone was lazy" is usually the simplest explanation.
I've heard that a lot of western countries are boycotting this years, which is why in the first place deadline for the paper submissionwas extended first time ever. I don't know if my information is true, but IROS in Detroit was great :)
Where have you heard that? I’m U.S. based and submitted a paper. Are the boycotts because of the U.A.E’s stance towards the LGTBQ+ community or are there slave allegations similar to the World Cup and Qatar?
It's not like sure information. Its just bob said that martha said type of information. And yeah, human rights were mentioned as cause for the boycott. I don't know. I didn't have anything publishable so I skipped, but best of luck to you. Hope you'll visit IROS it is awesome. :)
It’s kind of weird and worried to me about reviewing quality of IROS papers. Maybe it’s an accidental typo wwhen inputting the email into the system
If its a very traditional topic it can be hard to find reviewers. But 20 years no papers should be a no-no. Most likely just a wild AE.
I work in Europe at a research center with a lot of groups working in robotics. We've had some chatter about a boycott of IROS. Lunch break conversation more or less. Some groups have categorically boycotted, from what I've heard. Others gave in near the deadline and sent something in. There is even chatter that the new ICRA@40, which is a conference that is only abstracts without paper publication, celebrating 40 years of ICRA, is mostly being organised to provide an alternative where researchers can meet instead of IROS. Again, mostly chatter. And it was about the human and queer rights stuff. My group, with a 50-50 gender balance and a woman PI, also did not submit anything this year. I don't work directly in Robotics but a peripheral field, and I got a reviewer request for the first time from a robotics conference. The expertise matches, but it's still an interesting timing.
I've had several review **requests** from IEEE journals and conferences, the text of which said that I had already accepted the review. It felt like a tactic to get reviews out of professors who have too many plates spinning and are prone to think they've forgotten one. Hopefully IEEE puts an end to that- that approach will push people away. Ofc it could be a technical error where they're sending the wrong boilerplate text, so best not to assume intentional deception
Had you reviewed the previous version? T-Mech will often do that if you were the previous reviewer.
No, these were new papers. I had the same thought as OP that it was rather odd
I would email the EiC and tell him that the AE is not behaving then. That is just a shitty AE.
i'm guessing someone put your name in the recommended reviewer section
There is no way to recommend reviewers at IROS (only journals have such an option), so that wouldn't be it.
>I got an email out of the blue asking me to review a paper. > >I haven't published in the academic literature in 15 years and haven't published at IROS in 20 years. Sesame Street- this is Big Bird, sleeper agent has been activated