h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

To Fragilis:

I really liked the Project Spy. However, when I read it I noticed that names and title of entries are clipped out. I am just wondering why.

That's a good question, The Frood.

To answer it, my concern is that a lot of people who read this column who have the ability to influence my volunteers' experiences. Scouts who could recommend the article, Sub-Editors who could edit it, and h2g2 paid staffers who could significantly speed the process along are all reading.

If I let out which entries are being discussed, someone might take it upon themselves to 'help' my volunteers out. This would be very well-intentioned I'm sure, but it would prevent me from collecting information that roughly matches what most researchers go through with Peer Review. My volunteers' experiences would be skewed towards the positive.

The whole point of this exercise is to demonstrate what people *really* go through in Peer Review. I don't harbor any illusions that the experience is always positive. So I am keeping my volunteers and their entries a secret until the experience is over. After the job is done, I will reveal the identities of my volunteers and plug any other entries they may still have in the Peer Review system.

Ah! It does seem like a logical way to go. Well thought