review policy

Reviewer Obligations at ICLR: Understanding the Paper Count Policy

The ICLR policy is refreshingly blunt: if your name appears on three or more papers, you review, full stop. No qualifications, no experience check, no debate. That means Alex, a new student fourth-author on three lab papers, is on the hook, even if they feel unready. It is a blunt instrument, but it is also a clear one. The policy prioritizes volume of contribution over perceived expertise, which is a fair trade-off for a field that needs many hands.