Many scholars use Microsoft Word to compose journal articles and reviews of other scholars’ work, then e-mail those files to editors during the blind peer-review process. But many do not realize the software automatically includes the author’s name as a tag in the document’s properties.

To see if Microsoft Word is recording your name:

The author tag may be seen by pulling down the “File” menu, clicking on “Properties,” and selecting the “Summary” tab.

To remove identifying information:

In Windows: Pull down the “Tools” menu, click “Options,” and select the “Security” tab. Then check the box beside “Remove personal information” and save the document. It is also possible to remove the tags manually–one document at a time — by opening up the “Summary” tab as described above and erasing the identifying information.

On a Macintosh with OS/X: Pull down the “Word” menu. Click “Preferences,” and then select “Security.” Check the box for “Remove personal information” and click “Save.” Then resave the document. The tags can also be removed manually, as in the Windows version. For newer versions of Word pull down the “Tools” menu then click “Protect” then click “Documents” then select “Privacy”.