Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement for Journals

Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are foundational to our business ethos and culture at Bristol University Press and Policy Press and we consider demographic, experiential and cognitive diversity in our policies and practices. We value the diversity of thought, belief and background of our authors, editors, reviewers and staff which enable us to publish a wide range of voices that challenge accepted norms. 

In addition to our commitments as part of the University of Bristol (read their Diversity and Inclusion information here), we have adopted the Joint Statement of Principles of the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications and the Diversity Charter developed by the Creative Industries Council.  We are a founder member of Even Up, have signed up to the SDG Publisher’s Compact and are an active member of Research4Life.  More information can be found on the EDI hub on our website here.

Increasing equity, inclusion and diversity in academic publishing contributes to the quality and innovation of research and inspires and attracts the next generation of researchers.  

This statement outlines the ways in which we seek to ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion are integral to every aspect of our publishing, and how we might encourage and drive positive change. We are committed to the continuous improvement of our policies and practices, and welcome feedback and ideas. We offer further guidance and training to our editors and reviewers on EDI issues, if this is requested, and regularly discuss EDI issues and policies in board meetings.

Editorial policies and practices

• Our journal editorial teams set out and follow clear editorial policies to ensure that all research submissions are subjected to the same assessment criteria and standards. All research articles published in our journals undergo double anonymous peer review.
• Our journal editors work to address bias and create a culture of inclusiveness in the publishing process making changes where required.
• We encourage our journals to publish on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion.
• We encourage our journals to problematise inequalities based on race, ethnicity, gender and/or gender identity, socio-economic background, age, disability and health, sexual orientation, religion and other causes in the work they publish.
• Our journals encourage submissions using collaborative research models eg participatory action research
• We recommend that, for articles reporting primary research, at least one author (ideally the first or last author) should have a primary affiliation with an institution in the country in which the data were collected. Where this is not possible, the authors should inform the journal editor why this is not the case during submission.
• Our journals encourage authors to reflect diversity in their citations and references, with many of our journals now moving to word counts exclusive of references, to encourage diversity in citation and referencing practices.
• We encourage our journal editorial teams to commit to diversifying their journals’ author bases in their commissioning practices, e.g. through special issue proposals, dedicated journal sections, and individual articles. Our journals require authors to give due acknowledgment to all who have contributed to the research.
• We have a name change policy for authors which allows for retroactive name changes in certain circumstances without the need for a corrigendum.
• Our journals are committed to increasing diversity in peer review by actively working to expand their reviewer base, ensuring papers are reviewed by scholars with appropriate experience.
• We are working to create a more inclusive list of classification terms in our online submission and peer review system.
• We are working to increase the diversity of those we approach for testimonials.

Recruitment practices

• Our journals operate fair and equitable recruitment practices for journal Editors and other members of the journal editorial team.

Journal editorial boards

• We encourage diversification of our journal editorial boards to ensure, at the very least, that they reflect the author and wider community profiles.
• We encourage a selection process that relies on both nominations and open calls to establish diverse and inclusive editorial boards.
• We provide guidance to our journal editorial teams on how to diversify advisory boards.

Benchmarking, measurement and tracking

• We will work to collect and monitor self-reported community data to increase our understanding of where opportunities are impacted.
• We will carry out a baseline assessment of the diversity of authors, reviewers, board members and editorial teams.
• Journals will set their own objectives against their baseline and wider community profiling.
• The BUP Journals Division intend to conduct an annual anonymised survey of its authors, editorial boards and reviewers to track progress against our stated aim of diversifying our journal communities.
• We are working with our online submission and peer review system provider to allow for further self-reported data to be gathered in the system, within existing data and privacy protocols.
• We intend to work with our editorial teams to review existing submission classification systems and monitor the diversity of the subject matter published by our journals 

Accessibility

Bristol University Press is committed to making our journals accessible to as wide an audience as possible including:

• Providing open access waivers and discounts to authors in low, medium and high development countries of the UN Human Development Index.
• Partnering with Research4Life and other organisations to increase access to our content.
• Accessibility standards on our platforms for people with disabilities, including Alt-text for all images.
• Providing free access (either permanent and temporary) to certain published content that is relevant to practitioners and policy makers, or concerned with issues of equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Useful resources and further reading

Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC): https://c4disc.org/C4DISC

Toolkits for Equity https://c4disc.org/toolkits-for-equity/RSC

Joint commitment for action on inclusion and diversity in publishing: https://www.rsc.org/policy-evidence-campaigns/inclusion-diversity/joint-commitment-for-action-inclusion-and-diversity-in-publishing/

Towards inclusive scholarly publishing: developments in the university press community https://insights.uksg.org/articles/10.1629/uksg.506/