TMLR reached out to the authors of 10 papers slated for desk rejection, in an attempt to understand if the authors could explain the paper they submitted [D]

You can read more here: https://medium.com/@TmlrOrg/asking-authors-about-their-own-papers-3d2e04e5dee0

The results are (imho) concerning. Taken from the article:

Of the ten submissions:

• Authors of one paper withdrew their submission.
• Authors of one paper said they were unavailable due to other commitments.
• Authors of one paper scheduled a meeting but did not show up.
• Authors of three papers were unable to answer basic questions about the paper.
• Authors of three papers answered questions about high-level ideas in the paper but had difficulty when asked further questions on technical details.
• Authors of one paper answered all of my questions (although [the interviewer, the Co-EiC] identified a major flaw in that paper)