Double-Blind Peer Review Guide

The International Journal of Applied Business and International Management (IJABIM) uses a double-blind peer-review process for research manuscripts. During peer review, the identities of authors are not disclosed to reviewers, and the identities of reviewers are not disclosed to authors.

To support the integrity of the review process, authors should prepare their submissions so that the manuscript provided to reviewers does not contain information that directly identifies the authors or their institutions.

Preparing the Title Page

Author-identifying information should be provided separately from the anonymized manuscript. The title page should include, as applicable:

• manuscript title;
• full names of all authors;
• institutional affiliations;
• corresponding author details and email address;
• ORCID identifiers, where available;
• acknowledgments;
• funding information; and
• conflict-of-interest or competing-interest declarations.

The title page is retained for editorial purposes and should not be included in the manuscript file provided to peer reviewers.

Preparing the Anonymized Manuscript

The manuscript submitted for peer review should not contain information that directly reveals the identity of the authors. Authors should therefore:

1. Remove author names and affiliations.
   Do not include author names, institutional affiliations, email addresses, ORCID identifiers, or other identifying details in the anonymized manuscript.
2. Remove acknowledgments and identifying funding information.
   Acknowledgments, funding statements, and other information that directly identifies the authors or their institutions should be included on the separate title page rather than in the manuscript sent to reviewers.
3. Handle self-citations appropriately.
   Authors should cite their previous publications in the same manner as other relevant literature and should avoid wording that unnecessarily reveals authorship. For example, references to previous work should normally be written in the third person rather than using phrases such as “in our previous study.”
4. Check tables, figures, and supplementary files.
   Tables, figures, appendices, file names, and supplementary materials provided to reviewers should not contain author names, affiliations, institutional logos, or other unnecessary identifying information.
5. Check document properties.
   Before submission, authors should review the document properties and metadata of manuscript files and remove author-identifying information where possible.

References and Prior Work

Authors should not omit relevant references solely for the purpose of maintaining anonymity. Previous publications by the authors should be cited normally when they are relevant to the manuscript.

Unpublished or related work should be described and cited in a manner that preserves anonymity where reasonably possible while still providing reviewers with the information necessary to evaluate the manuscript.

Patents, datasets, reports, conference papers, preprints, and other relevant sources may be cited where appropriate. Authors should ensure that citations are necessary, accurate, and presented consistently with the journal's reference style.

Anonymity During Peer Review

IJABIM takes reasonable steps to preserve author and reviewer anonymity during the peer-review process. However, complete anonymity cannot always be guaranteed, particularly where authors have previously presented or disseminated related work or where the subject matter makes authorship readily identifiable.

Reviewers should not attempt to identify authors. If a reviewer becomes aware of an author's identity and believes that this creates a conflict of interest, the reviewer should inform the Editor.

Editorial Screening

The Editorial Office may check manuscripts for appropriate anonymization before external review. If identifying information is found, the manuscript may be returned to the author for correction before being sent to reviewers.

For further information about manuscript evaluation and editorial decisions, please refer to the Peer Review Policy.