Introduction

As journal publishers1 and editors, you play a vital role in determining what is published and how research is communicated. In doing so, you shape your respective fields and the intellectual life of our society. An editorial board that reflects its broader community is not only more equitable but also allows for a plurality of perspectives, counteracts biases, and promotes breadth of content and various methods of acquiring knowledge. Across multiple disciplines over the past five decades, women have been underrepresented among editors and editors-in-chief (14% and 8%, respectively) while composing 26% of scientists (Liu et al., 2023b). As recently as 2020, editors, editorial boards, and reviewers of scholarly publications of English-language journals have been predominantly White, with the vast majority of countries in Africa, Asia, and South America underrepresented at 19% of editorial board membership, for example, despite constituting 35% of authorship (Liu et al., 2023a).

In addition to broad representation on editorial boards, peer review, as the primary activity of editorial boards and ad hoc reviewers, must be conducted fairly and without bias to uphold the integrity of scholarly disciplines. In a 2021 survey (“Bias in Peer Review,” 2021), the majority of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) members identified bias in peer review as a prevailing issue of concern, and others have called for implementing actions to increase equity in peer review (see, for example, Eve et al., 2021; Meadows, 2018). The conduct of peer review has implications for the accuracy of the published literature as well as for individuals’ careers. As publishers and editors, you can implement policies and practices that support fairness, prioritize equity, and foster respectful feedback.

As publishers and editors increasingly share the aim of correcting imbalances to foster an equitable, participatory publishing environment, questions have arisen as to how best to develop a more inclusive environment among reviewers and editorial board members and a more equitable peer review process. This, in turn, has important implications for the publishing climate for diverse authors and forms of knowledge. We introduce this Focused Toolkit of resources to support publishers and editors in these aims.2

The Toolkit is presented in five sections:

• Recommendation 1 outlines actions to support an inclusive culture and mission. Formal policies, such as open science, and conveying a commitment to diversity through communication channels, such as editorials, help cultivate an inclusive culture.

• Recommendation 2 details steps for collecting and reporting demographic data from those involved in the editorial process. Taking account of the current breadth of diversity of your major stakeholders provides information to guide goal-setting and subsequent actions to improve diversity.

• Recommendation 3 advises on the important step of recruiting broadly and intentionally for both editorial roles and reviewers. Through broad and intentional outreach, you can take concerted actions to increase the participation of individuals from persistently marginalized communities in the editorial process.

• Recommendation 4 delineates suggestions on how to create pathways for reviewer participation, for example, through training sessions, journal co-reviewer options, and editorial fellowships. Such opportunities create mechanisms by which individuals can gain experience and skills in a core scholarship activity that builds knowledge in their field.

• Finally, Recommendation 5 provides actions and models to increase equity in the peer review process. Resources such as bias-free language guidelines, and equitable processes, such as open peer review, incorporate mechanisms to help ensure fairer peer review.

We offer this Toolkit with a spirit of cultural humility. We acknowledge that the presented actions will not be equally practical or relevant for all of you. We also recognize that the suggestions and examples outlined here are not exhaustive; they are based on current knowledge and our shared experiences, with the hope that others will build on these strategies as the industry—and society at large—collectively evolves. On that note, we recognize and appreciate the efforts of other dedicated professionals who have created resources, toolkits, and recommended practices on related topics. We intend for this Toolkit to complement existing and future resources and leave it to you—the publishers and editors—to determine how to best advance your goals. With that in mind, we provide a list of recommended Resources at the end of this Toolkit.

Throughout this Toolkit, we refer to individuals from groups who in many societies have been persistently marginalized, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, people holding different religious beliefs, and those of younger and older ages. This terminology is intentional, as we seek to recognize the historical exclusion, marginalization, and underrepresentation of these communities, which continue to pervade our cultures, systems, and processes today. In recognizing these historical and ongoing inequities, we retain hope that through action, understanding, and systemic change, the term persistently marginalized will become outdated.

By providing a wide range of actionable steps, we aim to support all those seeking to build a more inclusive editorial and reviewer community. Our work was guided by our belief that the opportunities for discovery, authenticity, and self-correction are more available in a discipline when the people who edit, write, review, and participate in scholarly endeavors are systematically connected rather than segregated in the publishing venture (Medin & Bang, 2014; Roberts et al., 2020).