By Godwyns Onwuchekwa, eLife Head of Communities
In this eighth report into equity, diversity and inclusion at eLife, we highlight recent developments and planned actions for the next six months.
We continue to make strides in 2024 implementing actions from our previous report and building towards strengthening equity and inclusion broadly in scientific scholarly publishing. In this report, we outline steps we have taken to accomplish plans set out in our April 2024 report. Those plans covered the following:
- Supporting inclusive and empowered communities
- Addressing bias in peer review
- Encouraging inclusive and equitable research
- Underpinning action with equitable infrastructure
If you have any questions on this update or previous ones, please share them using the comments section below or email edi@elifesciences.org. To provide anonymous feedback, please use this form.
Supporting inclusive and empowered communities
In April, we opened applications to our Early-Career Advisory Group (ECAG). To ensure increased diversity and inclusion through geographical representation, we set a target to recruit from regions that were not represented among the seven continuing members as of that date. While we are happy to report positive results from the recruitment process, taking the group to 12 members in 10 countries, across six regions, our efforts to attract applications and therefore members from the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands did not materialise. We continue to actively explore additional methods to better reach these communities.
The outcome of the sixth round of Ben Barres Spotlight Awards met our ambition towards increased diversity. In this edition, we achieved the most geographically diverse awardees, from 13 countries – the highest number since inception. The 14 recipients shine a light on the transformative impact researchers can have through their work, and in their communities. Two awardees, from Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pakistan, became the first from these countries to receive an award. In general, 56% of eligible applications were based on research articles initially published as reviewed preprints. Of these, 41% were published through the eLife Model, and a further 15% were based on preprints evaluated by other editorial groups on the Sciety platform, such as GigaByte, GigaScience, PREreview, preLights, Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases and Review Commons.
In the last report, we also indicated that we will work towards a review of eLife’s governance in an effort to achieve greater equity, diversity and inclusion. Following the February Board meeting, a Governance Committee was formed, composed of three Board members, one ECAG member and one eLife staff member. eLife’s Programme Manager acts as Secretary to the Committee. The Committee started its job with recommendations on the criteria for recruiting an eLife Editor-in-Chief and Directors for vacant seats on the Board.
The Committee's recommendation to include two early-career researchers (ECRs) on the Board, contingent on finding suitable candidates, was approved by the existing Board members and incorporated into the open call for applications. Advertisements were distributed via eLife’s various platforms and targeted specific communities to ensure the broadest possible reach.
- Next steps: see the end of this article for details
Addressing bias in peer review
Over the last six months, we have taken steps to ensure that eLife's pool of early-career reviewers continues to reflect the diversity of the research community. The pool currently includes 273 participants, after a recent review of eligibility, representing participants from 30 countries and all of eLife's major subject areas. In the three months from July to September 2024, 20 new reviewers joined the pool.
Candidates can apply online and a list is publicly available so that authors can include relevant suggestions during the submission process.
Of the current pool of 273 early-career reviewers, 151 have provided at least one review, while nine members have provided at least eight reviews. We have surveyed our editors and involved our ECAG for input on ways in which we can include members of the pool more in the review process.
In parallel to this action, our ECAG has been working with our editorial leadership and staff to establish an observer programme that will see ECAG members join our consultative peer-review process and share feedback on this. We believe this will further amplify the voices of ECRs in the public review of research, moving us towards a more transparent and inclusive system for the benefit of science communication, where all stakeholders are valued.
Encouraging inclusive and equitable research
Although we have not delivered on the plan for a community event on inclusive and equitable research in the life sciences, as indicated in our last report, we have broadened this action by supporting our ECR groups to host specific events that address concerns among their peers.
In April, our ECAG hosted an event on ‘Leadership and mentorship for early career-researchers’. And in June, our Global South Committee for Open Science (GSC) hosted a community-focused event on ‘Promoting open science in and from the Global South’.
Further events are planned by the GSC, and an additional proposal to run free training sessions in science communication for our community of early-career researchers is in the pipeline.
- Next steps: see the end of this article for details
Underpinning action with equitable infrastructure
Over the last six months, the Sciety team has reviewed and completed three independent assessments from the perspectives of marketing, product/platform, and community engagement to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion principles in the platform’s ongoing development. This has helped to identify any gaps that may exist and continuously address them. We will share an update on this when it is ready.
Next steps
In 2025, we will address the following areas:
- Establish an observer programme for our ECAG members to give feedback on potential improvements in our peer-review process
- Recruit the next group of researchers into our Ambassadors Programme
- Recruit new members to the Global South Committee for Open Science to bring the membership to 13
- Share updates on Governance Committee recommendations to further enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion at eLife
- Recruit new Board members including ECR representatives
Further areas to be addressed in 2025 will be identified by our senior leadership team.
Explore previous reports on our progress:
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