Elsevier's journals' now displaying editors' gender in support of diversity

AMSTERDAM, Feb. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics, is pleased to announce the first step of visualizing the gender balance of its scientific journals' editors. Following a successful pilot project, over 500 journals will now display the self-reported data of their editors' gender to support openness and increase inclusion and diversity (I&D) in this space.

February 11 also marks the United Nation's "International Day of Women and Girls in Science", which aims to promote that full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls is achieved. To demonstrate Elsevier's participation, we are actively working to create a better gender balance and diversity amongst our editorial boards: The Lancet portfolio of journals has already achieved a 50-50 percent gender balance; while Cell Press has established an Inclusion & Diversity Statement and is charting a course to parity.

Philippe Terheggen, Managing Director of Elsevier's STM Journals said: "We are excited to be working alongside our editor communities on such an important and timely initiative, which can only help increase the visibility of our journals and enhance their ability to provide accurate data in this area. While we are likely to evaluate our current benchmark, we look forward to expanding the indicator's usage across all our journals."

Expanding this level of transparency will not only raise awareness of the gender balance across Elsevier's journals', but also show that we are committed to working with our partners to build more inclusive research and health ecosystems. Elsevier believes that we can make a real impact by providing the best analytics possible to help make better evidence-based decisions, and ensure that our content and solutions are as inclusive as possible and provide a means to accurately report across gender, race & ethnicity and geographical dimensions. 

An initial finding from the pilot revealed that women currently make up only 25 percent of available Editor-in-Chief roles in Elsevier journals. This clearly presents an opportunity for further discussion and improvement.

Over 500 journals from diverse subject areas including health & medical sciences, life sciences, social sciences and the physical sciences are now available. Click here to see a live example of the indicator.

Elsevier is committed to driving change in gender balance and will take significant steps towards understanding how to improve such areas, with further feedback from our author and editor communities, to improve the display of these gender indicators across Elsevier's entire collection.

Notes for editors

Since 2015, Elsevier has produced three analytic research reports, the latest being the 2020 global gender report, "The researcher journey through a gender lens," which reviews the state of play across the European Union and 15 countries globally in 26 subject areas, demonstrating that while the participation of women in research is increasing overall, inequality remains across geographies and subject areas in terms of publication outputs, citations, awarded grants and collaborations.

About Inclusion & Diversity at Elsevier

As a publisher, we are tackling own role as a curator of the research ecosystem, which is why we have created an Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, which brings together the expert and thoughtful contributions of leaders from across the international research and health community. The Board aims to impact diversity and inclusion in research across gender, race & ethnicity, and geographical dimensions and ensure that research is conducted and reported in the most equitable and inclusive manner possible. Together we are developing standards, best practices and evidence-based initiatives that drive unbiased, robust decisions to improve I&D in editorial boards, peer review and scientific conferences while supporting publication and inclusive participation in research equity in research funding, publication and career opportunities.

About Elsevier

As a global leader in information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers across the global research and health ecosystems.

In everything we publish, we uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity. We bring that same rigor to our information analytics solutions for researchers, health professionals, institutions and funders.

Elsevier employs 8,100 people worldwide. We have supported the work of our research and health partners for more than 140 years. Growing from our roots in publishing, we offer knowledge and valuable analytics that help our users make breakthroughs and drive societal progress. Digital solutions such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath support strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and health education. Researchers and healthcare professionals rely on our 2,500+ digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell; our 40,000 eBook titles; and our iconic reference works, such as Gray's Anatomy. With the Elsevier Foundation and our external Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, we work in partnership with diverse stakeholders to advance inclusion and diversity in science, research and healthcare in developing countries and around the world.

Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com

Media contact
Jonathan Davis
Elsevier Communications, Europe
j.davis.1@elsevier.com 
newsroom@elsevier.com

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