Blind Jury Review: Governance and Setup Guide

Blind review is a governance choice

Blind review reduces identity and reputation signals during selection. It does not erase bias, and it should not hide information that is legitimately part of eligibility or curatorial intent. Write down what is hidden, when identities may be revealed, and who can authorize that change.

1. Define the blind record

Jurors usually need images, title or applicant-defined label, medium, dimensions, year, and responses tied directly to the rubric. Hide names, contact details, social handles, biographies, school and representation history, and identifying filenames when those fields are outside the criteria.

Documents require special attention. Names can appear inside PDFs, image metadata, headers, acknowledgements, and links. In Crafted Call, automatic document redaction can create a review copy; administrators should inspect and edit that copy before jurors see it. Keep the source document protected for staff who need it.

2. Handle conflicts separately

An anonymous record does not eliminate conflicts. Require jurors to declare relationships, recent collaborations, financial interests, or recognizable work. Give them a clear recusal action and prevent a recused juror's missing score from being treated as a zero.

3. Preview exactly what jurors will see

Before opening a round, use juror preview to check field visibility, image order, document redaction, rubric labels, and navigation. Test with a representative submission rather than an empty form. Confirm that jurors have only the permissions needed for their assignment.

4. Record lifecycle events

Keep an audit trail of round opening and closing, assignments, recusals, scoring changes, administrative overrides, and identity reveal. The purpose is not surveillance. It is the ability to explain how a decision was reached and whether the published process was followed.

5. Reveal deliberately

Do not reveal identities merely because the first round is complete. Decide whether later rounds require context, and disclose that design in the call. When a reveal is necessary, make it an explicit admin action, record who performed it, and tell jurors what changed.

Blind review works best alongside multiple jurors, a written rubric, conflict declarations, and a documented tie process. For calls where artist identity or lived context is a legitimate criterion, use open or partially redacted review and explain why.