Ensuring a Double-Blind Peer Review

Double-Blind Peer Review

All manuscripts submitted to the journal undergo a double-blind peer review process, which ensures the anonymity of both authors and reviewers. To maintain this anonymity, authors must remove all identifying information from the main submission file as well as from the document properties before uploading.

1. In the manuscript content

  • Remove author names and institutional affiliations (such as university name, department, or program).
  • Avoid self-referencing that reveals authorship (e.g., write “this study analyzes...” instead of “in our previous study...”).
  • When referencing your own work, replace citations with: “Author, year” or “Reference removed for blind review”.

Example:
Instead of: “As discussed in Silva (2020)...”
Use: “As discussed in Author (2020)...”

Note: Full citations can be restored after the peer review process is complete.

2. In document properties

For Word documents:

  • Go to File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document.
  • Select Remove all document properties and personal information, then save the file again.

For PDF files:

  • Use a PDF editor (such as Adobe Acrobat or a trusted online tool).
  • Access the Document Properties and remove any author names, affiliations, or other identifying metadata.

3. Supplementary files

If submitting supplementary files (such as datasets, images, or videos), ensure that these do not contain metadata or visual elements that could identify the author(s).

Failure to comply with these guidelines may compromise the blind review and result in a request for resubmission. If you have any questions, please contact the editorial team before submitting your manuscript.