EDIB Getting started guide
This guide is designed to help journal editors and institutional publishers develop an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) strategy. EDIB ensures fair treatment and full participation for everyone, including those historically underrepresented in research and publishing.
Why create an EDIB strategy?
In open scholarly publishing, diversity and inclusion are essential. A strong EDIB approach helps:
- Remove barriers so everyone can participate equally (Equity).
- Ensure representation across gender, race, career stage, location, language, and more (Diversity).
- Make all voices visible, heard, and valued (Inclusion).
- Build a sense of community where everyone can thrive (Belonging).
By addressing EDIB, your journal or publishing platform can better reflect the global research community, improve access to knowledge, and support a wider range of perspectives.
How to use this resource?
Think of EDIB as a roadmap: a set of tools and strategies to gradually create a fairer, more inclusive publishing environment. You may face challenges, and not every suggestion may be feasible at once, but every step counts. Therefore, each one may take a slightly different journey, beginning and ending in different places, and making different stops along the way. Nevertheless, in each case, it will help to have a map.
This guide is intended to provide you with practical tips and different building blocks that you can use to assemble a map that is meaningful for your own IPSP or journal.
Remember that EDIB is challenging, and you will likely run into some roadblocks or need to make some detours. But don’t give up! Even if you are not able to implement all the suggestions presented in this resource – or at least not all at once – persevere and work on the areas that you can address. Each step taken towards creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive scholarly publishing system is a step in the right direction.
Want a printable version of the EDIB Getting started guide?
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