Politics Quarterly (PQ) strictly employs a double-blind peer-review policy. This model is utilized to maintain the highest standards of objectivity, fairness, and quality throughout the manuscript evaluation process.
Definition and Mechanism
In the double-anonymous (or double-blind) review model, two critical steps are taken to ensure the anonymity of the process:
- Reviewer Anonymity: The reviewers who assess the manuscript are not told the name(s) of the author(s). The authors never learn the identity of the reviewers.
- Author Anonymity: The names and identifying details of the authors, including their affiliations, are concealed from the reviewers throughout the assessment phase.
Rationale for Double-Blind Review
PQ mandates this rigorous anonymity for several key reasons:
- Limiting Bias: Author anonymity significantly limits potential reviewer bias related to an author's personal attributes, such as gender, country of origin, institutional prestige, academic status, or previous publication history. This ensures that all submissions, regardless of the author's background, are evaluated on an equal playing field.
- Focus on Content: By hiding identities, the process compels reviewers to concentrate exclusively on the manuscript's substance, methodology, results, and overall contribution to the field of fine arts, performing arts, and music. Articles from prestigious or renowned authors are considered strictly based on the paper's content, rather than their established reputation.
- Integrity of the Record: The unbiased nature of the review supports the integrity of the published record.
Author Responsibilities for Maintaining Anonymity
To ensure the success of the double-blind process, authors bear a fundamental responsibility to prepare their submission files appropriately:
- The main file of the manuscript must be submitted without the names of the authors or any identifying information within the text, figures, or supplementary materials.
- Identifying details, affiliations, and acknowledgements must be confined only to the separate Title Page file.
- Authors must exercise caution when referencing their own previous work; phrases such as "our previous research" should be replaced with neutral language like "previous research has demonstrated".
- While absolute anonymity can be difficult to guarantee, as reviewers might occasionally infer identity through self-citation patterns or highly specialized subject matter, the author must take every precaution to prevent inadvertent disclosure.
The double-blind policy is central to PQ's operation and helps uphold the journal's selective publishing standard, which results in an acceptance percentage of 21%.
