Content area
Full Text
Nature and its sister journals start offering anonymity to authors during the peer-review process.
Starting in March, Nature and the monthly Nature Research Journals will experiment with an alternative to their time-tested method of peer review. Instead of the traditional single-blind method, in which reviewers are anonymous but know the authors' identity, authors will be able to choose double-blind peer review, in which both authors and reviewers are unknown to each other.
Alternatives to the traditional single-blind peer-review process are often proposed. Chief among them are double-blind and open peer review, two apparent opposites as in the latter both the authors and reviewers are known to each other. But the reasons cited in favor of these two alternatives are different. On one hand, proponents of open peer review see its transparency as a way to encourage more civil and thoughtful reviewer comments-although others are concerned that it promotes a less critical attitude. On the other hand, advocates of double-blind peer review suggest that it eliminates ad hominem biases, such as those based on gender, seniority, reputation and affiliation (A. Mulligan et al.,]. Am....