BOSTON—Editors at leading mathematics journals expressed concern Wednesday after learning that 162 of 722 newly released papers arrived with their main results already verified by computer, leaving the publications with nothing to misplace for the customary two years.

"Our process has always relied on a certain amount of waiting," said Dr. Leonard Pryce, managing editor of a peer-reviewed quarterly. "A paper comes in. We lose it. A referee finds it under another paper. That's rigor."

Under traditional review, a proof passes through an editor, two referees, a third referee to break the tie, and a summer. The machine-checked results finished verification before the editors had finished reading the subject line.

Journal staff said they were exploring ways to add value, including reformatting the proofs into house style, asking for the figures to be redrawn, and requesting that the authors cite three of the editor's papers.

The remaining papers, written proofs still awaiting expert review, were greeted with visible relief. "Finally," said Pryce. "Something we can sit on."

Several journals announced a fast-track option for machine-verified work, cutting the review period from 24 months to 23.

Publishers confirmed that readers would continue paying to access papers already available for free online, a policy they described as "the one part of this that still works."

At press time, a referee had requested minor revisions to a proof checked by a computer, citing tone.