[Math] Is it OK for a referee to acknowledge identity with a previous referee

advicejournalspeer-reviewsoft-question

As with this older related question, question anonymous for obvious reasons.

If I have been asked to review the same paper twice, is it OK to acknowledge in my review that I am the same person as one of the referees from last time? I'm sure cryptographers would frown on that sort of thing, but it's not clear that there is actually a practical problem with this.

Thanks!

Best Answer

I have done this as a reviewer, and have had it done to me as an author. I have no problem with it. I do think you should disclose to the editor that you've reviewed the paper before. (This can create the awkward situation of having to say "I reviewed this for journal A, and didn't think the theorem was interesting enough, but it fits just fine in your journal." But I found the editor in question to be not at all offended.)