Proponents of a blinded peer review system believe that knowledge of authorship may leave referees vulnerable to biases about those authors' previous research, perceived expertise, institution, nationality, or gender. This shifts judgment away from the merits of the scientific work and introduces pre-conceived notions about the identity and background of the author into the review process. Conversely, supporters of transparent authorship argue that knowledge of author identity makes it easier for the referee to provide more appropriate critiques. Open author identification allows referees to compare the current manuscript to previously published work by the author, and to recognize or identify potentially important conflicts of interest.