Anonymization Instructions for PIs

NOIRLab TAC uses a Dual Anonymous review process, in which the proposals are first presented without disclosure of the investigators during the first stage of the review. Only proposal sections relevant to the science program are disclosed initially, and these must be anonymized.  In the second stage of the process, additional, non-anonymized information relevant to the science program will be introduced into the review to obtain the final ranking.

Compliance with this policy is mandatory. Proposals received with flagrant violations will be subject to disqualification before the review-panel stage. Proposals with less serious violations (e.g., forgetting to change a reference from first person to third person) will be allowed to remain in contention, but will be flagged for review by NOIRLab’s TAC Staff and the TAC Director for a final decision.

NSF's NOIRLab TAC conducted a webinar outlining the Dual Anonymous review process.

• The webinar recording from the 2022B semester is posted here: 2022B instructional webinar (starts at 3:17)
• The webinar recording from the 2023A semester is posted here: 2023A instructional webinar

List of disqualifying lapses in proposal anonymization  

• Directly naming one’s self or previous, current or future work in the required anonymous sections of the proposal with attribution.
• Directly naming a co-I or their previous, current or future work in the required anonymous sections of the proposal with attribution as a co-I.
• Directly naming a competitor or their previous, current or future work in the required anonymous sections of the proposal with direct attribution.

A short summary of points on anonymizing are listed below:

1. Do not claim ownership of past work, e.g., "my previously funded work..." or "Our prior analysis demonstrates that…”

2. Do not include the names of the personnel associated with the proposal or their organizational affiliations. This includes but is not limited to, page headers, footers, diagrams, figures, or watermarks. This does not include references to past work, which should be included whenever relevant (see below). 

3. Referencing is an essential part of demonstrating knowledge of the field and progress. When citing references within the proposal, use third person neutral wording.  Do not refer to previous observing campaigns or other observatories in an identifying fashion. 

4. If it is important to cite exclusive access datasets, non-public software, unpublished data, or findings that have been presented in public before but are not cite-able, proposers must use language such as "obtained in private communication" or "from private consultation" when referring to such potentially identifying work.

5. Do not include any acknowledgments, or the source of any grant funding.

To view full instructions for PI proposal anonymization see the following document: Anonymization Instructions (PIs)