Enhancing Peer Review Quality Through Double-Blind Reviewing in ACM Conferences
Double-blind reviewing (DBR) is increasingly recognized for its effectiveness in reducing biases, improving article quality, and practicality in ACM conferences. Studies show evidence of gender and institutional biases in single-blind reviewing, while DBR enhances fairness and credibility. DBR reviewers rarely guess author identities, contributing to the integrity of the review process. The variations of DBR offer trade-offs in when author identities are revealed.
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Considering a Mandate for Double-Blind Reviewing in ACM Conferences Jonathan Aldrich, Carnegie Mellon University SGB Liason to the ACM Publications Board
Double-Blind Reviewing (DBR) shields author identities from reviewers Single-Blind Reviewing (SBR) Reviewer identities hidden from authors Author identities visible to reviewers Double-Blind Reviewing (DBR): Reviewer identities hidden from authors Author identities hidden from reviewers
There is bias in single-blind reviewing [Snodgrass, SIGMOD 2006][Tomkins et al., PNAS 2017] Clear literature review findings Evidence of gender bias Evidence of pro-US institution bias Perception that DBR is more fair Additional mixed/surprising results (not always in expected direction) Bias related to prolific authors Bias related to institution quality Regardless of the source / kind of bias, DBR can reduce it
DBR Improves Quality Articles published in journals using blinded peer review were cited significantly more than articles published in journals using non- blinded peer review, controlling for a variety of author, article, and journal attributes. [Laband and Piette, JAMA 1994]
DBR reviewers rarely guess author identity Across 3 conferences, reviewers were asked to guess author identity 74-90% of reviews were submitted with no correct guesses [Le Goues et al., CACM 2018]
DBR is practical PC chairs did not report the extra administrative burden was large [Le Goues et al., CACM 2018] Most current ACM conferences use DBR 80% of those that reported (117 of 146) Thank you for contributing to this data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XqN4PIUYDJAeWoqIzhXQodwJx8b QfVs9cS31vK0MQe0/edit
DBR has variations with tradeoffs [terminology from double-blind.org] When are author identities revealed? Partially double blind: author identities revealed after initial review Allows authors to be considered in discussion, e.g. with respect to prior work Fully double blind (blind-to-accept): author identities hidden until (cond.) accept Stronger protection against bias Most double-blind ACM conferences are blind-to-accept (93 of 117) Some started partially double-blind, and moved to fully double-blind arXiv-restricted Submissions to arXiv are restricted for a period before/during review Can help with blinding, as reviewers may be notified of preprint submissions Relatively uncommon in ACM conferences (~3 of 127) Pubs Board encourages arXiv preprints in general, so a total ban is counterproductive
Should ACM mandate DBR? Some other publishers are doing it, e.g. IOP in Physics https://ioppublishing.org/news/iop-publishing-commits-to-adopting-double- blind-peer-review-for-all-journals/ Some publishers are going the other way, towards Open Peer Review Let s discuss
Some Resources on Double Blind Review https://double-blind.org/ Tracks double-blind reviewing in top CS conferences Includes resources on DBR (at the bottom of the page) https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/mckinley/notes/blind.html Kathryn McKinley s site on improving reviewing quality through DBR Also includes many useful DBR resources Two resources advocating for double-blind in SE conferences https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~clegoues/double-blind.html https://people.cs.umass.edu/~brun/doubleblind.html