Author Interviews, JAMA / 28.09.2016
Authors’ Prestige May Influence Some Medical Research Reviewers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Kanu Okike MD MPH
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center
Honolulu, Hawaii
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Many journals in the social sciences practice double-blind review, in which reviewers and authors are both blinded to each others' identities. In medicine, on the other hand, most journals practice single-blind review, in which authors' identities are known to reviewers. Concerns have been raised that this could lead to biased reviews, however, especially in the case of well-known authors.
In our study, we composed a fabricated test manuscript and randomized reviewers for an orthopaedic journal to receive single-blind (prestigious authors listed) or double-blind (no authors listed) versions. In our study, the reviewers who were under the impression that the manuscript was written by prestigious authors (single-blind review) awarded higher marks and also recommended acceptance more often, in spite of the fact that the manuscripts were otherwise identical.
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