For the chemical sciences to prosper, we must attract, develop and retain a diverse range of talented people, including peer reviewers.
Every part of the publishing process should accurately represent the people who make up the thriving chemical science community.
Why does inclusion and diversity in peer review matter?
A peer review process that is inclusive can promote quality and fairness. If we encourage debate and discussion from a diverse range of voices, then we can enhance the quality of scholarly work. Inclusivity gives everyone the chance to exchange their views, offer their expertise and contribute to the scientific record.
The volume of research outputs is growing, and the work of peer reviewers is more important than ever. Having a large, diverse peer review network can reduce the time it takes to find the right reviewer for a submission and help expedite publication times. It also lessens the risk of implicit biases having an effect during the assessment stage.
What are we doing to promote inclusion and diversity in peer review?
Despite the efforts of many, not everyone has equal opportunities to present their research. For example, our report, ‘Is publishing in the chemical sciences gender biased?’, identified that biases exist at each step of the publishing process, putting women at a significant disadvantage. A key step for action is to recruit and train reviewers, editorial board members and associate editors from diverse groups to better reflect the community we serve. While this report focuses on gender equality in the chemical sciences, we also believe that this action should apply to all aspects of diversity.
At the Royal Society of Chemistry, we believe that all researchers, whoever and wherever they are, should have the chance to develop their careers. Becoming a peer reviewer demonstrates that an individual is respected in their field and able to offer important opinions on the latest discoveries. This experience opens up new opportunities for researchers to engage and progress in their careers, such as being asked to join a journal’s editorial or advisory board. We believe that a significant part of being inclusive is making sure that everyone has equal opportunities to develop and grow as a researcher or peer reviewer.
A quick look at our peer reviewer network in 2022
45,520 reviewers from 120 different countries*
24.4% of journal reviewers are women*
40% of editorial board members are women*
Some of the things we are doing:
- We are actively inviting researchers at all career stages, and from all backgrounds, to join our peer reviewer network. In doing so, we hope to broaden our collective knowledge and offer researchers an improved peer review experience.
- We encourage authors to consider diversity – in terms of career stage, gender, geographical location, race and ethnicity – when they recommend reviewers for their submitted manuscript.
- As thought leaders, we identified that systemic or individual biases can creep in at any stage of the publishing process. And this issue, which is not unique to the chemical sciences, particularly affects talented scientists from underrepresented groups. So, we built a framework for action – a comprehensive plan to change the publishing landscape – that makes sure no scientist is left behind.
- After the creation of our framework for action, we realised that if we wanted to truly change research culture, we needed to involve other publishers. With this in mind, we brought together over 55 publishing organisations in a joint commitment for action on inclusion and diversity in publishing. This involves pooling our collective resources, expertise and insight to accelerate research culture change.
- We give our authors and reviewers the option to self-report their gender on our submission and peer review systems, and we will soon be expanding this to include race and ethnicity. This data collection allows us to understand diversity baselines, set targets and monitor progress.
- Transparency is important to us. We regularly report the diversity of our authors, reviewers and editorial board members in the RSC diversity data reports to give you the full picture.
- Some of our journals offer the option of double-anonymised peer review. This choice anonymises both the author and the reviewer to reduce bias.
- We have developed a policy that allows our authors to change their names, email addresses, biography photos, pronouns, and any other identifiers that may be necessary.
- To ensure best practice, we have updated our editor training process and resources to cover inclusion and diversity.
How can you make a difference?
Becoming a peer reviewer for a Royal Society of Chemistry journal is a great way to contribute your skills and knowledge to the community. Our diverse network upholds the integrity of the chemical sciences and ensures ongoing fair and inclusive peer review for all.