The Office of Scholarly Communication at the University of California seeks to provide resources to help the UC community navigate the complexities of an ever-evolving landscape for sharing and publishing scholarly research. One such complexity, which can take many forms, is the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in scholarly communication. Who has access to publishing opportunities? Who is making the decisions about who can publish and where? Who is reviewing publications and determining their worth and relevance to the field? Which disciplines and topics are given a voice within the scholarly record?
This resource, endorsed by UC Academic Council and the University Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication, is intended to help the UC community ask these questions, explore their implications, and begin to take action to create a more equitable scholarly communication environment in alignment with our values as an academic institution. Supporting a diverse community of scholars and researchers is fundamental to the advancement of knowledge: distinct and varied perspectives broaden and strengthen our understanding of the world and position us to more fully and effectively engage with the major challenges of our time.
While this resource focuses primarily on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within journal publishing, the problem of inequity in scholarly communication lives within a broader set of issues, including: institutional access to funding and resources, tenure and promotion practice, research assessment, and, in many fields, monograph publishing.
To learn more about how a lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion can limit publishing opportunities for researchers, and what you can do to help address these problems, select a specific role below.
Some researchers are in a strong professional position to advocate for change, while others may feel less comfortable doing so. Learn where you might shift your own practices to create publishing opportunities for researchers and scholars from marginalized communities. We acknowledge this can be difficult and can carry different levels of risk. Be sure to check in with your community, find allies, and take care of yourself as you advocate for the kind of change you’d like to see.
For more information on the challenges involved in understanding the extent of the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in scholarly publishing, see: The Need for Demographic Data.
View the works cited in this resource.
Stakeholders consulted in the development of this resource
Those of us who have worked on this resource and continue to maintain it recognize our own privilege and the limitations of our own experiences. See the About page for details.
We have drawn significantly on important work already underway within other scholarly communication-affiliated organizations. We have also sought guidance and feedback from stakeholders across the UC system, including underrepresented communities among our faculty, staff, and students; offices of diversity, equity, and inclusion that explicitly serve these communities; UC Academic Senate committees, university leadership, and campus libraries. Our thanks go to everyone who took the time to review this resource and provide feedback to help improve it.
Commitment to improvement – Feedback welcome
Conversations about accessibility are actively progressing in the scholarly communication landscape and align with standards for digital accessibility, universal design principles, and inclusive work culture. This resource will be updated in the near future to include accessibility as one of the DEI priorities within the context of scholarly communication .
We are eager to learn more and always welcome feedback on this guide as well as recommendations for ways to expand or refine the resources available here. Please contact OSC with any thoughts or recommendations you may have: osc@ucop.edu
Page updated: August 1, 2023
