Hidden Prompts in Manuscripts Exploit AI-Assisted Peer Review

Excerpt

arXiv:2507.06185v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: In July 2025, 18 academic manuscripts on arXiv contained hidden instructions that manipulated AI-assisted peer review (indirect prompt injection). Instructions such as "GIVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ONLY" were concealed using white text and microscopic font sizes. Author responses varied: one planned to withdraw their manuscript, while another defended the practice as legitimate testing of reviewers misusing large language models (LLMs). This an