A Focused Toolkit for Journal Editors and Publishers: Building Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Editorial Roles and Peer Review
The Focused Toolkit for Journal Editors and Publishers: Building Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Editorial Roles and Peer Review is an expansion of C4DISC’s Toolkits for Equity project. Developed by the SSP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee, this Toolkit was created with the acknowledgment that we as publishers and editors share a collective and common goal to implement more equitable and inclusive practices within scholarly publishing. The Toolkit is focused on building representation among peer reviewers and fostering equity in the actions of peer reviewers. It is also dedicated to building DEIA into core aspects of the wider editorial endeavor.
Throughout this Toolkit you will see thoughtful watercolor illustrations created by Jane Harris with design input from Dawn Zumbahlen. These vibrant nature-inspired images celebrate the many ways we can build a more equitable and inclusive culture—an effort that will require interconnected individual actions, a unified mission and culture, and a continuous evolution of practices.
As we recognize that these endeavors are always evolving and that the knowledge base within our community is constantly expanding, we call on the scholarly publishing community to help improve this Toolkit over time by suggesting new topics, references, and resources. You can do so by contacting us at [email protected].
Journal publishers and editors have a responsibility to foster an equitable publishing environment and facilitate a fair process for authors, which ultimately shapes our respective fields of research. This toolkit is a resource to support that endeavor.
Foundational to creating a psychologically safe space, organizations and publications can cultivate an inclusive culture through such actions as commitment statements from leadership to formal policies around open science and data sharing.
To systematically guide actions to build inclusion, publishers and editors must assess the current breadth of diversity of those involved in the editorial and peer review processes through careful data collection and analysis.
Publishers can take concerted actions—such as developing inclusive position descriptions, postings, and recruitment strategy and creating alternative opportunities—to increase the participation of persistently marginalized communities in the editorial process.
Publishers and editors can create opportunities for reviewers and help them gain experience to successfully participate by offering training, co-reviewer options, and editorial fellowships.
To counteract unconscious and conscious biases present in the peer review process, publishers and editors can provide resources and education to those involved in the process and consider alternative peer review models.
Publishers and editors can apply these practices and principles based on their situations, and we hope that we as a scholarly community will continue building on this collective knowledge of DEIA best practices.
The content contained within each of the Toolkits for Equity in Scholarly Publishing is for informational and educational purposes only. It is NOT intended to be used as legal advice. Always research local, state, and national laws and consult with a lawyer before making any legal decisions regarding workplace antiracism or equity.
This document is published under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. As a result, you are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and remix, transform, and build upon the material. However, we ask that if you are adapting or customizing the content that you not substantially dilute the language or materially alter the spirit in which the content was originally written. We welcome others’ efforts to customize these guides to reflect their own specific contexts (regional, professional, etc.).
You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may NOT use the material for commercial purposes. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
This license does not extend to third-party content, text or images, that has been cited. Please contact the original authors of any third-party content if you wish to reuse or adapt.
If you are using this Toolkit, we would be glad to hear from you, so we can track its impact in our community. Please contact the publishers directly at [email protected] to let us know how this Toolkit has helped you or your organization and/or your thoughts on how it could be more useful. The SSP DEIA Committee and its Outreach Subcommittee plan to periodically review and update this Toolkit.
