What does putting DEI into practice at the Nature Reviews journals really look like?

Author: Saskia Hoving

Being diverse and inclusive is good for science. And even better for storytelling. This ethos informs how the professional editors at the Nature Reviews journals view their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in scholarly publishing at their journals. These editors held a webinar to discuss proactive steps for expanding DEI. During the session, the presenters emphasised four critical aspects, which this blog further details with specific examples.

To show librarians how DEI works in practical terms, on June 18, 2024, four members of the Nature Reviews journals’ editorial leadership gave a webinar on how these journals are taking proactive steps to expand DEI in Nature Reviews’ publishing. Because the editors at the Nature Reviews journals commission most of the material they publish, these editors are in a unique position to make that commitment real. And this commitment cuts across several “sections” of diversity — including racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, but, also, geographic diversity, the differently-abled, and including early career researchers (ECRs).

The Nature Reviews webinar panel

• Jill Adie, Ph.D.; Head of Publishing Strategy for the Nature Portfolio 
• Mina Razzak, Ph.D.; Editorial Director, Nature Reviews
• Graham Simpkins, Ph.D.; Chief Editor, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment
• Daniel R. Dickstein, MD; Chief Resident, Department of Radiation Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York

To get specific, and show what this means in practical terms, the panel broke the Nature Reviews approach down into four areas, and talked about each one, in turn, with concrete examples. The topics were:

1. Diverse and inclusive authorship
2. Covering a diverse range of topics
3. Using more accessible formats
4. Diversity training for in-house editorial staff

Diverse and inclusive authorship

Because Nature Reviews journals commission most of the articles they publish, the editors have the unique opportunity to shape their journals’ authorship demographics. And while these editors will of course refer to subject matter experts for many of those reviews, they’re also aware of existing within a research ecosystem.

Working to expand DEI in that ecosystem includes, among other things, aiming for authorship gender balance. And it also means offering writing opportunities to ECRs. One example: Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology features an article series called “Voices of the new generation.” This series showcases reviews and perspectives from junior group leaders, giving them a platform to share their experiences as younger leaders, earlier in their careers.

Covering a diverse range of topics

The Nature Reviews editors also consciously use the platform to promote socially responsible calls to action. They’ve covered topics like racism's impact in academia, considerations for care of sexual and gender minorities in different clinical specialties, as well as issues around the “leaky pipeline” where women and other minorities leave research fields after or during their Ph.D.’s.

Using more accessible formats

Nature Reviews editors are also thinking carefully about formats and options for articles and authorship. One example: Authors from cultures that use alphabets other than the Roman alphabet can now opt to have their names presented in their native alphabets. Currently supported languages are Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian, and Russian.

Diversity training for in-house editorial staff

All of this relies on training. The Nature Reviews journals have a team of about a hundred editors. So, training each of these editors to be aware of these inclusion standards and goals and giving them the tools to be able to do that, is essential.

These tools start with guides and documents, and include a system of sensitivity volunteers that editors can go to for second opinions or advice. For example, if an editor wants a second opinion on a manuscript, or on how to respond to an invitation to speak, if there’s concern that the panel might, for example, be entirely male, or otherwise not be particularly representative of the community.

Putting DEI into practice: Examples from the webinar

The webinar’s second half details concrete examples of how the Nature Reviews editors are putting these concepts into real-world practice. Some examples include:

• Methods articles by ECRs: These articles focus on methods rather than results, and they offer ECRs — including Ph.D. students — the chance to engage with editors, learn how publishing systems work, and get feedback on edits and writing.
• Citation diversity statements, which acknowledges that citation patterns in the past have tended to exclude marginalised groups. These statements provide authors with guidance on how to generate unbiased reference lists, and to ensure that they consistently include historically excluded groups. These statements are already piloted on Nature Reviews Bioengineering. 
• Hearing from Dr Daniel R. Dickstein, himself an ECR, about his experience working with Nature Reviews Urology to develop and publish his review, and the impact that that has already had on his career.

Diversity is good for science, for storytelling, for the world

Researchers and students rely on the review articles that the Nature Reviews journals publish, and, as such, the journals’ professional editorial team embraces its responsibility to help expand diversity, equity, and inclusion in scholarly publishing. And that means that the team takes constant and active measures to help expand inclusion not only in scholarly publishing, but, by extension, in global research, too. Because being diverse and inclusive is good for science — and even better for storytelling, too.

Watch the webinar recording and click for more information on  Nature’s diversity commitment or go to our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Research Publishing Hub.

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