title: Attitudes toward blinding of peer review and perceptions of efficacy within a small biomedical specialty.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Peer reviewers' knowledge of author identity may influence review content, quality, and recommendations. Therefore, the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics ("Red Journal") implemented double-blinded peer review in 2011. Given the relatively small size of the specialty and the high frequency of preliminary abstract presentations, we sought to evaluate attitudes, the efficacy of blinding, and the potential impact on the disposition of submissions.
  
  
  METHODS
  In May through August 2012, all Red Journal reviewers and 1 author per manuscript completed questionnaires regarding demographics, attitudes, and perceptions of success of blinding. We also evaluated correlates of the outcomes of peer review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Questionnaires were received from 408 authors and 519 reviewers (100%). The majority of respondents favored double blinding; 6% of authors and 13% of reviewers disagreed that double blinding should continue in the Red Journal. In all, 50% of the reviewers did not suspect the identity of the author of the paper that they reviewed; 19% of reviewers believed that they could identify the author(s), and 31% suspected that they could. Similarly, 23% believed that they knew the institution(s) from which the paper originated, and 34% suspected that they did. Among those who at least suspected author identity, 42% indicated that prior presentations served as a clue, and 57% indicated that literature referenced did so. Of those who at least suspected origin and provided details (n=133), 13% were entirely incorrect. Rejection was more common in 2012 than 2011, and submissions from last authors with higher H-indices (>21) were more likely to survive initial review, without evidence of interactions between submission year and author gender or H-index.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a relatively small specialty in which preliminary research presentations are common and occur in a limited number of venues, reviewers are often familiar with research findings and suspect author identity even when manuscript review is blinded. Nevertheless, blinding appears to be effective in many cases, and support for continuing blinding was strong.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Electronic address: rjagsi@med.umich.edu.
authors.forename: Reshma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jagsi
authors.affiliation: Scientific Publications, American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), Fairfax, Virginia.
authors.forename: Katherine Egan
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.affiliation: Center for Cancer Biostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Kent A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.affiliation: Center for Bioethics and Social Science in Medicine and Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Rochelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: DeCastro
authors.affiliation: Scientific Publications, American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), Fairfax, Virginia.
authors.forename: Calley
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.affiliation: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Holliday
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Anthony L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Zietman
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D001319:Authorship; D032921:Consensus; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D035081:Editorial Policies; D006801:Humans; D017712:Peer Review, Research / Q000379:methods*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires