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Triple-masking v Double-masking: a Trial of Scientific Publication in Public Health

NCT06067633 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 1500

Last updated 2023-10-05

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The trial is designed to determine whether knowledge of the identity of the authors, their institutions and of the reviewers of a given article submitted to American Journal of Public Health impacts the final editorial decision. The concept of triple masked editorial process (where editors are unaware of author identities and affiliations in addition to the authors' and reviewers' identities being masked from one another) compared to a double masked process (only authors' and reviewers' identities are hidden from one another; editors are aware of author and reviewer identities) has not been formally tested in a scientific journal, and particularly not in medicals social science, or public health journal. Triple-masking is expected to lead to greater acceptance of articles submitted overall because it will neutralize biases against some authors and reviewers because of who they are or the institutions they are related to.

The triple masked editorial process, in which the editors, the authors and the reviewers ignore their respective identities will be compared to a double masked, in which the editor knows the identity of the authors and reviewers, because double masked is currently the editorial process used by the American Journal of Public Health.

Even though only manuscripts are randomized, the trial will collect information about the identity of the authors (eg, genes, race/ethnicity, seniority) and the reviewers to be used for secondary analysis. In this sense it is dealing with human subjects and has obtained an exemption from the Institutional Review Board of Queens College.

Conditions

  • Publication of Articles Submitted to the American Journal of Public Health

Interventions

OTHER

Triple-Masked

Eligible manuscripts in the triple-masked editorial process arm will be masked electronically before being entered in the trial by the editorial assistant

OTHER

Usual Procedures

Articles will be processed by the editors with identifiable/unmasking content of cover page and letters.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Queens College, The City University of New York

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • ALFREDO MORABIA · Queens College, The City University of New York

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-09-06
Primary Completion
2024-03-01
Completion
2024-03-01

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06067633 on ClinicalTrials.gov