Publishers are starting to acknowledge the systemic inequality of the publication process and in some cases, are proactively doing something about it. What follows are examples of mechanisms that individual publishers and journals are employing in an effort to rectify inequality in citation practices. A lot of the work on this front is downloaded onto the authors, editors, and peer-reviewers to ensure conformity with these practices.
Some journal editors are trying to increase awareness around equitable citation practices through criteria baked into journal submission guidelines. For example, the author instructions for the journal Political Analysis, tell potential authors to "...pay attention to the gender balance in your citations. An editor may ask you to change your citations if the cited authors have too few women" (Preparing your materials, para. 4). Other journals, like the European Journal of Legal Studies, go beyond gender, taking a more intersectional approach to the citation gap by employing this submission guideline statement: "EJLS strongly encourages authors to cite early career researchers and to reflect regional, gender, and linguistic diversity in their citations" (Substantial Requirements, para 1).
Some journals are asking their peer-reviewers to pay particular attention to diversity in manuscript citations. For example, the editorial board of the European Journal of Legal Studies amended its peer review template to include the following question: "Should the author consider citation of a more diverse range of sources (e.g. with respect to language, gender, region, etc)?" (Jacob-Owens & Münchmeyer, 2021).
Some journals are dedicating journal space specifically for new scholars. For example, the European Journal of Legal Studies offers a "New Voices" option that helps students or new scholars get published in order to help build their publication record (New Voices, para. 1).
The publisher, Wiley, provides their editors with a page about creating a journal diversity, equity, and inclusion statement (Wiley, n.d.). Cell Press is another example of a publisher promoting what they call an Inclusion and Diversity Statement. In their case, they provide authors with a form that includes the option to self-identify if they're a member of any marginalized groups (with an option to include it in the published paper), if they are part of a program for advancing minority scientists, they can highlight the diversity of any genetic data in their study to promote gender/sex balance in their research subjects, and they can highlight any efforts made to promote gender balance in citation (Sweet, 2021).
This guide cannot highlight every publisher's efforts, but if you are planning to submit a manuscript for consideration to a journal, we invite you to explore that journal's website to see if it is promoting these (or similar) mechanisms. And, if it is, consider participating.
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