I collaborated on a project that investigated peer review and geographical and language bias for submissions to an ecology journal. The results are published in the following article:
Burns, C.S., & Fox, C.W. (2017). Language and socioeconomics predict geographic variation in peer review outcomes at an ecology journal. Scientometrics, 113(2), 1113-1127. doi:http://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2517-5
Dryad, data, doi: http://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5090r
Data notes
The files in this repository, numbered s[0-8]---.R, include the source code for the analysis. They may also include some exploratory code, including plots, that may not be reported in the final paper.
Data files: decisions.csv and decisions_2.csv
- decisons.csv is the source file
- decisions_2.csv is a copy of the above but variable names were lightly edited in LibreOffice Calc and . notation was replaced with NA (to make R file friendly)
Variable definitions for decisions.csv and decisions_2.csv:
| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| sort: | sequential list of numbers to sort by, if needed |
| ms_id: | manuscript identification number |
| author_count: | number of authors per manuscript |
| author_sex_ratio: | ratio of females to males authors per manuscript |
| corr_auth_sex: | sex of corresponding author: 0 male ; 1 female |
| first_auth_sex: | sex of first author: 0 male ; 1 female |
| senior_auth_sex: | sex of senior author: 0 male ; 1 female |
| submit_auth_sex: | sex of submitting author: 0 male ; 1 female |
| corr_auth_first_auth: | corresponding author is first author: 0 false ; 1 true |
| corr_auth_submit_auth: | corresponding author is submitting author: 0 false ; 1 true |
| submit_auth_first_auth: | submitting author is first author: 0 false ; 1 true |
| submit_auth_senior_auth: | submitting author is senior author: 0 false ; 1 true |
| corr_auth_senior_auth: | corresponding author is senior author: 0 false ; 1 true |
| no_auth_sex_ident: | number of authors where sex has been identified |
| first_auth_geog: | geographical region of first author |
| corr_auth_geog: | geographical region of corresponding author |
| submit_auth_geog: | geographical region of submitting author |
| senior_auth_geog: | geographical region of senior |
| author handling_editor: | handling editor ID |
| handling_editor_sex: | sex of handling editor |
| handling_editor_geog: | geographical region of handling editor |
| editor_seniority: | seniority in years since PhD of editor |
| editor_years: | years as handling editor |
| sex_ratio_reviewers: | ratio of females to males of reviewers per manuscript |
| mean_review_score: | mean review score (lower better) |
| mean_reviewer_days_respond: | mean number of days for reviewers to respond for |
| request to review mean_reviewer_days_review: | mean number of days for reviewersto review manuscript |
| prop_reviewers_responding: | proportion of reviewers responding to request for review |
| prop_reviewers_agreeing: | proportion of reviewers agreeing to review |
| sent_for_review: | sent for review: 0 No ; 1 Yes |
| max_review_score: | maximum review score per manuscipt |
| paper_rejected: | paper rejected: 0 No ; 1 Yes |
| no_reviews_obtained: | number of reviews received from reviewers |
| no_reviews_responded: | number of reviewers responding to request for review |
| title_word_count: | word count of manuscript |
| titles abstract_word_count: | word count of manuscript abstract |
| time_to_decision: | time in days to decision on manuscript |
Data file: author_decisions.csv
Whereas the data in decisions.csv groups variables by manuscript, author_decisions.csv unpacks manuscript data and contains extra observations about authors per manuscript.
Variable definitions for decisions.csv and decisions_2.csv:
| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| manuscript_id: | identification number for the manuscript |
| sort: | sequential list of numbers to sort by, if needed |
| submit_year: | year manuscript was submitted |
| submit_month: | month manuscript was submitted |
| author_person_id: | identification number for author (sequential) |
| author_order: | author's order in byline |
| corresponding_author: | author is corresponding author: 0 No ; 1 Yes ; 2 None |
| submitting_author: | author is submitting author: 0 No ; 1 Yes |
| senior_author: | author is senior author (last author): 0 No ; 1 Yes |
| missing_authors: | any missing authors: 0 No ; 1 Yes |
| author_country: | country of author based on byline |
| HDI: | human development index score (see notes below) |
| language: | language of author country (see notes below) |
| geographic region: | geographic region of author |
| author_sex: | sex of author (male/female) |
| prob_sex: | probability that author_sex classification is true |
| author_institution: | author's institution based on byline |
| manuscript_status: | acceptance, revision, rejection status of mansuscript |
| final_decision: | final decision on manuscript |
| submit_date: | submission date in %m/%d/%y format |
Notes on variable language in author_decisions.csv
Languages, CIA World Handbook:
- In the CIA World Factbook, languages are listed in rank order by country. - If English is listed as an official language, despite the rank order, then English is selected. This is done to reduce bias in the analysis. - If the country is not listed, then an alternate site is used.
Notes and alternate sites for the following countries are listed below:
- Cameroon people speak over two dozen African langauges (no dominant language), but English is listed as one of the official languages, so English is listed as the language for Cameroon.
- Ghana lists English as an official language. English is used.
- India: English
- Namibia: English
- Norway lists two versions of Norwegian: Bokmal Norwegian (official) and Nynorsk Norwegian (official). I reduced to Norwegian.
- Rwanda: English.
- Sri Lanka: English has special status in the constitution. English is used.
- French Guiana: French from Wikipedia (5/31/2016)
- Martinique: French from Wikipedia (5/31/2016)
Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html, accessed on May 31, 2016
Human Development index scores
Collected in order to evaluate against socioeconomic information
- Caymen Islands is not listed, since it is a British Territory, we use the United Kingdom index.
- Martinique is a territory of France, so we use the France index.
- Monaco is an independent country, but does not have a HDI, so we use France, its closest neighbor.
- New Caledonia is a part of France, so we use the France Index.
- Puerto Rico is part of the US, so we use the US index.
- Svalbard and Jan Mayan is part of Norway, so we use the Norway index.
- Taiwan is counted as China.
- French Guiana uses the France index.
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries, accessed on May 27, 2016