title: Double-blind review favours increased representation of female authors.
abstract: Double-blind peer review, in which neither author nor reviewer identity are revealed, is rarely practised in ecology or evolution journals. However, in 2001, double-blind review was introduced by the journal Behavioral Ecology. Following this policy change, there was a significant increase in female first-authored papers, a pattern not observed in a very similar journal that provides reviewers with author information. No negative effects could be identified, suggesting that double-blind review should be considered by other journals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G5. aebudden@nceas.ucsb.edu <aebudden@nceas.ucsb.edu>
authors.forename: Amber E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Budden
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tregenza
authors.forename: Lonnie W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Aarssen
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koricheva
authors.forename: Roosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leimu
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lortie
mesh_terms: D001319:Authorship; D015706:Bibliometrics; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004463:Ecology; D035081:Editorial Policies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017712:Peer Review, Research / Q000379:methods*; D017678:Sex Distribution