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EASE > Communities > Special Interest Committees > Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee > Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

The EDI space is multifaceted, with attention on not only the differing experiences of multiple demographics (remembering they often intersect), but also the spaces in which those experiences occur. Some of the core spaces ripe for change currently include:

  • The scholarly publishing workforce
  • Editorial stakeholders, most notably authors, reviewers and editors/board members
  • Research participants/subjects
  • Reader accessibility

Evidence on the lack of equality and representation in these core spaces is growing, and in time EASE hopes it’s Open Access journal, European Science Editing, may be a home for more of this literature.

EASE is a signatory to the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC), an initiative formed to discuss and address issues of EDI within our industry. Along with promoting the work and resources of C4DISC, we hope to be able to extend the support and guidance for our members on issues relating to EDI, encourage the establishment of a more representative workforce within scholarly publishing, highlight inequalities in the research datasets, as well as making EASE itself a more inclusive, welcoming and representative space.

Mission 

The mission of the EDI committee is to:

  • ensure EASE is a socially-just community that welcomes, values, and celebrates all who seek to contribute to its mission, and that this statement is owned at the highest level within the EASE Association
  • work with our members and industry partners to support equity, inclusion and diversity in scholarly communications, editing and publishing
  • Design, implement and support initiatives created to reduce bias within the publishing workforce, and editorial processes
  • Design, implement and support initiatives created to increase diversity in research participants and transparency in related research reporting.

Objectives/Goals 

  1. Identify partners and existing initiatives whose work we could support, and partners who could help develop, test and support the work coming out of this committee

  1. Undertake a survey of the diversity of the EASE leadership and membership to provide a starting point for measuring improvement

  1. Assess the diversity of EASE representatives and inclusivity of EASE’s structure and governance and make recommendations to Council about how these could be improved

  1. Monitor and evaluate diversity and inclusion policies and processes used by others in the industry to identify good practice and case studies

  1. Produce guidelines (where required) detailing good practice for editors and authors, with case studies from point 4 above

  1. Advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion awareness amongst EASE members and the broader publishing industry, and promote good practice in editing and publishing

  1. Develop and/or link out to other training resources, for example unconscious bias, anti-racism and micro-aggressions.

Action Plan

A detailed action plan will be devised once the full committee has been established. The following ideas are being considered.

  • Provide advice on demographic data collection
  • Member education/training on why EDI is an issue for publishers
  • Set up a mentoring scheme, partnering up Committee members with external influential people working in the EDI space
  • Encourage publishers to gain accreditation for being a diverse employer, akin to the bronze/silver Race Equality Charter award for higher education institutions.

We would like your help – please visit the page below to see some examples of EDI policies or statements from some leading publishers. You can add your own examples by completing this short form.