Double-blind review favours increased representation of female authors.
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.
Budden
Amber E
AE
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G5. aebudden@nceas.ucsb.edu <aebudden@nceas.ucsb.edu>
Tregenza
Tom
T
Aarssen
Lonnie W
LW
Koricheva
Julia
J
Leimu
Roosa
R
Lortie
Christopher J
CJ
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