It is the peer reviewer's responsibility to maintain the integrity of the peer review process.
To do so, peer reviewers must maintain objectivity in their assessment of manuscripts. In other words, the peer reviewer must mitigate any potential biases that may occur during the peer review process.
Biases are most often based on stereotypes and are harmful. Whether positive or negative, biases can cause people to form prejudgments that lead to rash decisions or discrimination.
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Types of bias
There are two types of bias:
Explicit/conscious
Intentional behaviours and or conscious thoughts and beliefs about an individual or group.
Implicit/unconscious
Judgments based on prejudice and assumption that result in an automatic and unintentional lack of acceptance of individuals and groups.
Bias can be introduced at various points in the peer review process and can be brought up by various aspects of a manuscript.
- The perceived quality of the language used in a manuscript is born from geographical and regional bias. Though the readability of a manuscript links to its accessibility, academic quality is often judged more harshly if the writing does not meet the standards of international academic English.
- Author characteristics including sex, language, nationality, affiliation, stature, previous work can inform the perceived credibility of the research conducted.
- Similarly, the reviewer's characteristics, such as cultural, conservatism, or area of study, will also affect the perception of the manuscript’s legitimacy and/or quality.
- Results-based bias where we look for confirmation bias that aligns with personal professional beliefs can also interfere with an objective assessment of a manuscript.
- Finally, a conflict of interest such as involvement with the research, institution of research, or the researchers, hinders the reviewer’s ability to objectively assess a manuscript as the publication outcome may directly affect them.
Emerald adopts a double-anonymous peer review process to eliminate some of the opportunities where bias may occur, but it is nearly impossible to remove them all. That is why being aware of your biases can help to mitigate their effect.
Strategies to help mitigate biases
The following strategies can help to mitigate biases:
- Consciously reflect: biases are partly based on experiences or information previously acquired. Understanding where your biases originate makes you more conscious of decisions made based upon them.
- Be receptive to being challenges: consider multiple viewpoints that may stretch your own perceptions and can allow you to revise your thinking.
- Be consistent: basing your decision-making on objective process helps reduce the impact of bias. Take the time to base your decision on evidence, providing a sound rationale for claims and scores given.