Who Are the Gatekeepers? An Examination of Diversity in INFORMS Journal Editorial Boards

Abstract

Publishing in respected scholarly journals is critical to academic success. However, if journal editorial boards fail to reflect the diversity of thought in a field, worthy work may be overlooked. This study assesses the level of diversity in the editorial boards of the 16 INFORMS journals. We examine gender, whether an individual is an underrepresented minority, and institutional affiliation, and perform a network analysis to identify coauthor relationships between editorial board members. We find that the editorial boards have low levels of diversity: women comprise just under 20% of the editorial board members; fewer than 1% of editorial board members are underrepresented minorities; and 10 institutions (less than 5% of the total) account for more than 25% of the editors. We find a high level of connectivity between editorial board members (as measured by coauthor relationship) for some of the INFORMS journals, suggesting the influence of an “in crowd” of like-minded individuals. INFORMS can and should work to end this state of affairs: we provide a set of actionable recommendations for broadening diversity and reducing connectivity on the INFORMS journal editorial boards. In this way, INFORMS journals can support a diversity of backgrounds and views, enabling the publication of a broader range of ideas and invigorating academic discourse in our profession.