Focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion in publishing

As a learned society publisher, we want to ensure that our author community represents the diversity of the scientific community that we serve and that everyone is treated equally with the same opportunities available.  

Editorial board diversity

In response to the growing volume of articles written by researchers from Asia, we have proactively enhanced the presence of this demographic in our editorial boards, resulting in 25% of our board members now originating from Asia. 

Inclusivity Action Plan

In 2023, we joined the Publisher’s Association’s ‘Inclusivity Action Plan’ to promote equality, diversity and inclusion within the industry’s workforce. 

Increasing reviewer diversity

We also increased the number of invitations to reviewers from low- and middle-income economies. Completed reviews from this group of reviewers also increased to nearly 17%, up from 14% last year. 

Supporting inclusive language

We rolled out inclusive communication guidelines across all our owned journals and made unconscious-bias training mandatory for all publishing staff.