Sage Journals Information

For journals that use double-anonymized peer review, authors are required to submit:

• A version of the manuscript which has any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymized. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers.
• A separate title page which includes any removed or anonymized information. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers.

Note: Cover letters are not sent to reviewers.

Where present, the following identifiable information should be treated as follows:

• Remove author names, emails and affiliations
• Remove the Acknowledgements
• Anonymize the Conflict of Interest statement where a competing interest exists, e.g.:
  • The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: [details omitted for double-anonymized peer review]
• Anonymize the trial registration number and date
• Anonymize the funding source(s), e.g.:
  • The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This work was funded by [details omitted for double-anonymized peer review]
• Avoid using self-citations. If you include an essential self-citation then:
  • The citation should not be anonymized.
  • If necessary, it should be referred to in the third person, e.g. write "Jones and Xi (2020) have shown", not "we have previously shown (Jones & Xi, 2020)".​

• If the journal you are submitting to mandates research data sharing and requires links to the data to be shared at submission, the data should be deposited in a repository that preserves author anonymity. The data can then be viewed anonymously during the peer review process.

  • Figshare is a repository that can be used to generate a ‘private sharing link’ for free which can be sent via email, and which you can add to your manuscript. The recipient can then access that data without having a Figshare account, and this link anonymizes the data for reviewers. These links expire after one year and should not be cited in publications.

• Please ensure that any shared links, e.g., a Safe Link, do not reveal identifying information such as the author's name or affiliation, to maintain double anonymity.