{"id":18796,"date":"2018-09-13T13:25:20","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T07:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/?p=18796"},"modified":"2022-10-26T09:04:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T03:04:34","slug":"increasing-diversity-and-inclusion-in-peer-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/increasing-diversity-and-inclusion-in-peer-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in Peer Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although publication is a key to success in the academic world, the peer review<\/a> process is not free from bias. Studies have shown that women and national minorities<\/a> still face difficulties in getting published. Introducing diversity in the peer review process is one way to mitigate this type of bias. Today, we will examine ways to increase diversity among peer reviewers.<\/p>\n

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Why Does Peer Review Lack Diversity?<\/h2>\n

There are several drivers behind this lack of diversity in the peer review process. A study of the Frontiers<\/em> journals examined whether gender bias<\/a> was present in their review process. The study found that male editors chose more male peer reviewers while female editors chose more female peer reviewers. As the number of female editors was much smaller in comparison to male editors, fewer female peer reviewers were included overall.<\/p>\n

Functional Ecology <\/em>also\u00a0performed a similar investigation<\/a> of its peer review process and reached the same conclusions. The end result was less diversity in the peer review pool. This eventually translated to a lesser diversity of papers chosen for publication.<\/p>\n

One explanation for this lack of diversity among peer reviewers is that academia and research are highly network dependent. People tend to form networks with their peers. Women still experience difficulty in advancing their careers<\/a> and often the research they do is undervalued<\/a>. National minorities face similar problems, and countries with fewer resources remain underrepresented<\/a> in the peer review process. Because these groups face challenges in getting published and promoted, it is, therefore, less likely that they will be invited to peer review for journals.<\/p>\n

Current Efforts to Increase Diversity<\/h2>\n

Increasing diversity and inclusion in peer review has become a hot-topic among journals and academic institutions. Here is what some journals are implementing to combat this problem.<\/p>\n