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Eliminating the Dark Side of Blind Peer Review
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Abstract:
Having peers review manuscripts submitted for publication helps ensure the quality of scholarly journal articles. Blind peer review (BPR), the process traditionally used for this purpose, has well documented advantages and disadvantages. However, few researchers have addressed the harm inflicted on reviewees directly, and on academia and the quality of peer-reviewed articles indirectly, by misguided blind peer reviewers. In this paper, the focus is on the dark side of blind peer review, what it is, why it happens, and what can be done about it. I describe a constructive blind peer review process (CBPR) that enhances the current BPR process by incorporating the nature of the feedback provided by the reviewer and its impact on the reviewee. I then discuss how to use the CBPR and a modified version of Lewin’s classic three-step change model, the continuous change model (CCM), to identify ways to improve the BPR process and determine strategies for implementing them successfully.
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