Racial, gender, sexual, and disability identities of the Journal of the Medical Library Association's editorial board, reviewers, and authors.

Katherine G Akers,J J Pionke,Erin R B Eldermire,John W Cyrus,Ellen M Aaronson,Thane Chambers,Melanie J Norton

doi:10.5195/jmla.2021.1216

Abstract

The Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) recently issued a call for submissions that recognize and address social injustices; speak to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workforce and among our user populations; and share critical perspectives on health sciences librarianship as well as those on any topic within JMLA's scope written by authors who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. We also committed to creating more equitable opportunities for authors, reviewers, and editorial board members from marginalized groups. As part of this effort, we conducted a demographic survey of all individuals who served as a member of the JMLA editorial board or reviewer or had submitted a manuscript to JMLA between 2018 and 2020. We found that most survey respondents are white, heterosexual, women and do not identify with a disability, meaning that JMLA is missing out on a diversity of perspectives and life experiences that could improve the journal's processes and policies, enrich its content, and accelerate the research and practice of health sciences librarianship. Therefore, to avoid perpetuating or aggravating systemic biases and power structures in scholarly publishing or health sciences librarianship, we pledge to take concrete steps toward making JMLA a more diverse and inclusive journal.

Highlights

Publishing is rife with systemic inequities and biases against contributors and content not representative of the majority voice [1, 2], which, in librarianship, belongs to white, middle-aged women without disabilities [3]
We found that Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) editorial board members, reviewers, and authors are mostly white, heterosexual women without disabilities or impairments, similar to the demographic characteristics of the Medical Library Association (MLA) membership [7], academic librarianship [9], and librarianship as a whole [3]
While this finding is not surprising, it suggests that JMLA lacks representation and contributions from individuals who are not white, who are LGBTQ+, or who have disabilities or impairments that influence their views of, or approach to, health sciences librarianship

Summary

Introduction

Publishing is rife with systemic inequities and biases against contributors and content not representative of the majority voice [1, 2], which, in librarianship, belongs to white, middle-aged women without disabilities [3]. In addition to assessing racial identity, we took this opportunity to obtain data on gender, sexual, and disability identities and inquire about barriers to publishing in or working with JMLA experienced by recent authors, peer reviewers, and editorial board members.

Results

Conclusion