De-identifying a Word Document

Guidance on De-identifying Microsoft Word Documents Prior to Submission

To ensure compliance with the Journal of Pathways Education and Research (JPER) double-blind review policy and to uphold ethical standards for data protection, authors must submit de-identified manuscript files. This means that all personal, institutional, and metadata information must be removed from Microsoft Word documents before submission.

1. Purpose

De-identification safeguards the anonymity of authors, participants, and institutions during peer review. It also ensures compliance with ethical research standards and privacy legislation. This process involves removing both visible identifiers (names, affiliations, acknowledgements) and hidden metadata (author properties, tracked changes, comments, or file history).

2. Step-by-Step De-identification Procedure

A. Microsoft Word (Windows)

  1. Save a copy of your document using a neutral name (e.g. JPER_Submission_Deidentified.docx).
  2. Go to File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document.
  3. In the Document Inspector dialogue box, ensure the following boxes are ticked:
    • Document Properties and Personal Information
    • Comments, Revisions, Versions, and Annotations
    • Headers, Footers, and Watermarks
    • Hidden Text
    • Custom XML Data
    • Invisible Content (if available)
  4. Select Inspect, then choose Remove All for each category found.
  5. Optional: enable Remove personal information from file properties on save under
    File → Options → Trust Center → Trust Center Settings → Privacy Options.
  6. Review the content manually:
    • Accept all tracked changes and stop tracking.
    • Delete all comments.
    • Remove identifying information in text, tables, figures, headers/footers, and references (replace with neutral placeholders such as [Author Name], [Institution], or [Location]).
  7. Save the cleaned copy and, if preferred, export to PDF for submission.

B. Microsoft Word (Mac)

Note: The availability of the Document Inspector varies by version. These instructions apply to Office 365 and Word 2019/2021 for Mac.

  1. Save a copy of your document (e.g. JPER_Submission_Deidentified.docx).
  2. If available, go to File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document and follow the same inspection and removal steps as above.
  3. If Inspect Document is not available:
    • Select Tools → Protect Document, then check “Remove personal information from this file on save.”
    • Save and close the file.
  4. Manually:
    • Accept all tracked changes and delete comments.
    • Remove names, affiliations, or identifying references from text and metadata.
    • Delete personal details under File → Properties (Author, Company, etc.).
  5. Save the document, optionally export to PDF, and verify that no personal or institutional information remains.

3. Verifying De-identification

Before uploading to JPER’s submission system, confirm:

  • The Author and Company fields are blank (check via File → Info or File Properties).
  • There are no visible identifiers (names, email addresses, institutions) within the text, headers, or footers.
  • The Track Changes feature is turned off, and all comments are deleted.
  • Optional: check the document using an online metadata inspection tool such as https://www.metadata2go.com.

4. Important Notes

  • The Document Inspector does not remove identifiers embedded in images, graphs, or screenshots; authors must verify these manually.
  • Saving as PDF can further limit metadata exposure but does not guarantee anonymity unless checked.
  • The JPER editorial team will return manuscripts that contain identifying metadata or author details for correction prior to review.