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STScI places a high value on the equity and integrity of the proposal review process. The goal is to give each reviewer an unbiased look at the proposal. Several studies have shown that a reviewer's attitude toward a submission may be affected, even unconsciously, by the identity of the lead author or principal investigator (see reference papers).  We have noted that over the last 15 cycles, HST proposals led by women have had systematically and successively lower success rates than those lead by men (Reid 2014). While the exact cause is unknown, independent studies on our reviews suggest a double-anonymous process would resolve this inequity, and may balance out other areas of potential bias including affiliation and country of origin.

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