Equity in global health research: A proposal to adopt author reflexivity statements

Saleh, Sepeedeh; Masekela, Refiloe; Heinz, Eva; Abimbola, Seye; Morton, Ben; Vercueil, André; Reimer, Lisa J.; Kalinga, Chisomo; Seekles, Maaike; Biccard, Bruce; Chakaya, Jeremiah Muhwa; Obasi, Angela; Oriyo, Ndekya M.

doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0000160

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…A growing number of journals, including PLOS journals, are discouraging parachute or helicopter research [11], or calling for author reflexivity statements [12] while other journals have initiated calls for transparent positionality as a required component for Indigenous health research [13]. We support these calls that have been presented in the Australian Journal of Rural Health, Rural & Remote Health, and the Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine [13] and we echo that call for Indigenous health globally.…”

Section: Article 4 Indigenous Peoples In Exercising Their Right To Se...supporting

confidence: 60%

Reconciliation and Indigenous self-determination in health research: A call to action

Roach

McMillan

2022

PLOS Glob Public Health

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Section: Article 4 Indigenous Peoples In Exercising Their Right To Se...supporting

confidence: 60%

Reconciliation and Indigenous self-determination in health research: A call to action

Roach

McMillan

2022

PLOS Glob Public Health

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“…By analysing all journals in the selected JCR categories, this study provides the first comprehensive view of the current state of academic diversity amongst editorial teams in environmental sciences and PEO health on a global scale. Furthermore, an important strength of this study is that the research team was largely composed of a diverse group of early career researchers which fostered opportunities for equal collaboration and skills development [64,65]. However, this study also has some limitations.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A journal editor's role is to manage and coordinate manuscript submissions, implying an ability to influence what is and is not published. Editorial boards and their leadership shape the direction of future progress and research [18,[25][26][27]. Imbalanced representation on such boards may therefore both reflect and result in biases and systemic disparities as well as power asymmetries in the production of scientific knowledge [18,23,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging the “old boys club” in academia: Gender and geographic representation in editorial boards of journals publishing in environmental sciences and public health

Dada

Daalen

Barrios-Ruiz

et al. 2022

PLOS Glob Public Health

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In light of global environmental crises and the need for sustainable development, the fields of public health and environmental sciences have become increasingly interrelated. Both fields require interdisciplinary thinking and global solutions, which is largely directed by scientific progress documented in peer-reviewed journals. Journal editors play a critical role in coordinating and shaping what is accepted as scientific knowledge. Previous research has demonstrated a lack of diversity in the gender and geographic representation of editors across scientific disciplines. This study aimed to explore the diversity of journal editorial boards publishing in environmental science and public health. The Clarivate Journal Citation Reports database was used to identify journals classified as Public, Environmental, and Occupational (PEO) Health, Environmental Studies, or Environmental Sciences. Current EB members were identified from each journal’s publicly available website between 1 March and 31 May 2021. Individuals’ names, editorial board roles, institutional affiliations, geographic locations (city, country), and inferred gender were collected. Binomial 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the proportions of interest. Pearson correlations with false discovery rate adjustment were used to assess the correlation between journal-based indicators and editorial board characteristics. Linear regression and logistic regression models were fitted to further assess the relationship between gender presence, low- and middle-income country (LMIC) presence and several journal and editor-based indicators. After identifying 628 unique journals and excluding discontinued or unavailable journals, 615 journal editorial boards were included. In-depth analysis was conducted on 591 journals with complete gender and geographic data for their 27,772 editors. Overall, the majority of editors were men (65.9%), followed by women (32.9%) and non-binary/other gender minorities (0.05%). 75.5% journal editorial boards (n = 446) were composed of a majority of men (>55% men), whilst only 13.2% (n = 78) demonstrated gender parity (between 45–55% women/gender minorities). Journals categorized as PEO Health had the most gender diversity. Furthermore, 84% of editors (n = 23,280) were based in high-income countries and only 2.5% of journals (n = 15) demonstrated economic parity in their editorial boards (between 45–55% editors from LMICs). Geographically, the majority of editors’ institutions were based in the United Nations (UN) Western Europe and Other region (76.9%), with 35.2% of editors (n = 9,761) coming solely from the United States and 8.6% (n = 2,373) solely from the United Kingdom. None of the editors-in-chief and only 27 editors in total were women based in low-income countries. Through the examination of journal editorial boards, this study exposes the glaring lack of diversity in editorial boards in environmental science and public health, explores the power dynamics affecting the creation and dissemination of knowledge, and proposes concrete actions to remedy these structural inequities in order to inform more equitable, just and impactful knowledge creation.

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“…Global health is grappling with how to decolonize and, more importantly, how to acknowledge and address white supremacy and signifcant power inequities [3][4]. Additionally, there has been tremendous, scholarship in global health research, particularly from scholar Seye Abimbola, in recognizing epistemic injustice [5], the need for equitable authorship [6] and importance of author refexivity [7]. This equity-focused momentum is growing across the feld of global health, and there is much to learn from other felds like feminist theory and science and technology studies.…”

Section: Context and Motivation For Your Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Critical Reflexivity in Global Health

Dunbar

Kolko

2022

Designing Interactive Systems Conference

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The current structures of global health are steeped in power inequities, where funding, leadership, "evidence-based ideas" and supporting research typically originate from the West. I am directly motivated by the recognition that digital health interventions can support better health outcomes yet are often poorly ft to context and culture, overengineered with good intentions, and lack measurable impact. This work explores developing a critical refexive practice to support global health practitioners in critiquing their vantage points, assumptions, and decisions. The idea is that cultivating this practice at individual, community and institutional levels can spark change through more epistemologically diverse designs and implementations of global health interventions, and more specifcally for digital health interventions.

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Equity in global health research: A proposal to adopt author reflexivity statements

Cited by 18 publications

References 11 publications

Reconciliation and Indigenous self-determination in health research: A call to action

Reconciliation and Indigenous self-determination in health research: A call to action

Challenging the “old boys club” in academia: Gender and geographic representation in editorial boards of journals publishing in environmental sciences and public health

Developing Critical Reflexivity in Global Health

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