Principles of peer assessment and review
ANROWS is committed to supporting research integrity, promoting public trust and ensuring best practice in its operations.
ANROWS peer assessors and reviewers must comply with guidelines underpinned by eight core principles. These principles ensure that the process of selecting grant applications and reviewing publications meets international and national standards of practice in peer assessment.
The core principles of the ANROWS peer assessment and review process are:
- Expertise: Applications are assessed by experts in the field of violence against women.
- Fairness: Applications are assessed and scored against published criteria. The award of grants is based on merit.
- Transparency: ANROWS publishes details of the Research Program application process, guidelines for peer assessors (including conflicts of interest requirements) and, following the award of grants, peer assessment panel membership. Feedback from peer assessors will be provided to applicants.
- Impartiality: To prevent bias or prejudice and ensure impartial assessments, grant applications are assessed by two or more peer assessors. Peer assessors are required to declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest throughout all stages of peer assessment processes. The declarations are managed by ANROWS staff as appropriate.
- Confidentiality: Information provided throughout the peer assessment process will remain confidential.
- Ethics: Peer assessors are bound by a Code of Conduct. ANROWS has procedures for handling complaints about misconduct, bias or prejudice. Projects which contravene principles of research integrity or of research ethics will not be funded.
- Quality: ANROWS only funds projects which are of a high quality.
- Efficiency: Peer assessment of grant applications will be efficient, timely and meet advertised and/or agreed dates with ANROWS.