How should reviewers promote ethical peer review?

Promoting ethical peer review is fundamentally tied to maintaining confidentiality regarding the submissions. Ensuring that the work of the authors remains confidential allows the peer review process to be fair and unbiased. Reviewers are entrusted with privileged information, and protecting that confidentiality helps foster trust between authors and reviewers, as it prevents any potential misuse of the information or ideas presented in the submission.

This confidentiality is essential for upholding the integrity of the review. It allows authors to present their work without fear that their intellectual property or ideas will be disclosed prematurely or misused. When reviewers commit to preserving confidentiality, it underlines their professionalism and adherence to ethical standards in research and publication.

While transparency about biases, discussions with colleagues, and offering candid feedback are important aspects of the peer review process, they do not carry the same foundational necessity as confidentiality. Each of these other elements plays a supportive role but may lead to ethical dilemmas if confidentiality is not upheld.