CZ:Ref:DOI:10.1126/science.7302566

Cole S, Cole JR, Simon GA (1981). "Chance and consensus in peer review". Science 214 (4523): 881-6. DOI:10.1126/science.7302566. PMID 7302566. Research Blogging. ^[e]

Summary: "An experiment in which 150 proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation were evaluated independently by a new set of reviewers indicates that getting a research grant depends to a significant extent on chance. The degree of disagreement within the population of eligible reviewers is such that whether or not a proposal is funded depends in a large proportion of cases upon which reviewers happen to be selected for it. No evidence of systematic bias in the selection of NSF reviewers was found."