[human_scientist]

> To submit to arxiv you need to be approved by someone as a legitimate researcher, or beg for reviews from people you’ve never met without any anonymity.

I did not have to do something like this.

[ISL]

I did not have to do so formally, either. Being a co-author on an arXiv paper or two counts, I believe, as endorsement.

Whenever the problem has come up for a colleague, it has been straightforward to endorse.

[chrisseaton]

Well that’s good for you isn’t it! What about everyone else? Not everyone is automatically approved because of things like their email address. That’s my point - they focus on reputation and credentials rather than the blind value of the work. It’s less accessible.

[317070]

The confusion comes from the 'journal' aka topic on arXiv, which can have different settings for when an author can submit. Some are more stringent than others. It is not an arXiv wide issue.