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As set out in the policy (see details), consumer peer reviewers are exempt from the named peer review process , and may choose to remain anonymous if they wish to do so. (Consumers still follow the policy for Declarations of potential conflicts of interest for peer reviewers.).

Exceptions approved by Network Senior Editor or Editor in Chief

If any a Cochrane Review Groups believe Group believes that their peer review process of for a particular Cochrane Review will be significantly negatively impacted by using named peer review, the Managing Editor or Co-ordinating Editor may apply to the Network Senior Editor or Editor in Chief of the Cochrane Library for a policy exception on a review-by-review basis. In each case the Cochrane Review Group must provide details, including the reason for opting to remain anonymous. Any exemptions must be forwarded to the Editorial & Methods Department (emd@cochrane.org) and will be recorded as detailed below.

Editor notes

Informing authors

The Cochrane Review Group must inform the author team when this occurs and let the author team know that this is an approved exceptionan exemption is in place and that it has been approved.

Informing the Editorial & Methods Department

As noted above, the The Cochrane Review Group must forward any approved exceptions to the Editorial & Methods Department (emd@cochrane.org) with the following information:

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When peer reviewers return comments to CRGs a CRG through whatever format (e.g. checklist or email with a list of comments), the CRG should check that the peer reviewer has agreed to take part in named peer review. If the peer reviewer is remaining anonymous, the CRG should add a note to update the peer reviewer’s Properties sheet in Archie as follows:

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