Peer review blinding practices of highly ranked dental journals: analysis and discussion.

Clovis Mariano Faggion

doi:10.1038/s41415-021-3319-y

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the type of peer review blinding used in highly ranked dental journals and to discuss the influence of the blinding approaches on the peer review process.Methods All 91 dental journals classified by impact factor (IF) had their websites scrutinised for the type of peer review blinding used for submissions. If the information was not reported, the journals were contacted to obtain the information. Linear and logistic regression were applied to evaluate the association between type of peer review blinding and IF.Results The selected journals reported the following peer review blinding approaches: single-blind (N = 36, 39.6%), double-blind (N = 46, 50.5%), transparent (N = 2, 2.2%) and open (N = 1, 1.1%). Information from six (6.6%) journals was not available. A linear regression analysis demonstrated that journals with lower IFs were associated with double-blind review (p = 0.001). A logistic regression suggested lower odds of association between single-blind peer review and journals with IFs below a threshold of 2 (odds ratio 0.157, confidence interval 0.059 to 0.417, p <0.001).Conclusions The majority of highly ranked dental journals had single- and double-blind peer review; journals with higher IFs presented single-blind peer review and those with lower IFs reported double-blind peer review.

Highlights

The peer review process is a pivotal component in the publication of scientific articles
Between 20 and 21 September 2020, all 91 dental journals classified by IF10 had their authors’ instructions sections scrutinised in order to answer the following question: what is the type of peer review blinding used to evaluate manuscripts submitted to the journal? If this information was not on the journal’s website, an e-mail was sent directly to the journal
Three (3%) journals offered the possibility of two types of peer review, but they were classified as single-blind for regression analysis purposes

Summary

Introduction

The peer review process is a pivotal component in the publication of scientific articles. A submitted manuscript is examined by one or more peers in order to determine the quality and suitability of the manuscript for publication.[1] The approach for peer review blinding may present in several forms, such as single-blind, double-blind and a totally open approach in which no blind review takes place.[2] These different strategies aim to produce a reliable and fair peer review process. This process should be seen in the context of ethical issues in research. Reviewers could hinder the development of a specific manuscript because they are involved

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