Assuring a Double-Blind Review
To assure the integrity of a double-blind peer review, authors and reviewers should take precautions in order to keep their identities undisclosed, and to avoid them to be easily deduced.
Textual Contents:
- References to authorship and institutional affiliation, as well as acknowledgments and reference to funding must be removed. This information will be reincorporated during proofreading, based on the corresponding data given in the submission form.
- Reference to any of the authors’ previous works must be rendered impersonal, or, if not possible, must be fully replaced by the label “[reference removed to preserve author’s identity]” in the corresponding footnote and in the bibliography entered in the submission form.
File Properties:
- Remove all personal information from the properties of any text file to be submitted.
On Microsoft Word, access the tab Revision > Protection > Document Protection. Check the box “Remove personal information of this file on save” and click “OK”. Save the file.
On LibreOffice, click the menu File > Properties. Uncheck the box “Use user data” and click on “Reset properties”. Save the file. - Images may also include personal information. Verify the properties of any image files before uploading.
