Coalition Launches Guidelines on Inclusive Language and Images in Scholarly Communication

The new resource will serve the academic publishing world, giving them a path to utilize modern and inclusive language

In October of 2022, the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) released a resource to deepen reflection and help people in the scholarly publishing world improve the way in which they navigate through DEI challenges: the “Guidelines on Inclusive Language and Images in Scholarly Communication.”

Following the success of the previous toolkits like their “Anti Racism Toolkit for Allies,” the “Anti Racism Toolkit for Organizations,” and the “Anti Racism Toolkit for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color,” C4DISC is now releasing its “Guidelines on Inclusive Language and Images in Scholarly Communication.”

The new toolkit is meant to be a global tool, educational resource and living archive to help all authors, editors, and reviewers recognize the use of language and images that are inclusive and culturally sensitive.

The guidelines can be used at various steps of the scholarly publishing process, such as manuscript writing, peer review and presentation of published output. The working group, reflecting a diverse body of international volunteers, came together in response to the growing need for more comprehensive and global guidelines for inclusive language and images. The guidelines are designed to continually evolve, relying on the entire scholarly publishing community to help grow and improve them over time by suggesting new references, recommendations, and resources.

Authors of the guide stated that its aim is to help people in the scholarly ecosystem to consider the foundation of their own thinking. As they wrote:

“Researchers and authors can examine their own biases and determine how these might affect their work. So too can other stakeholders involved in the publishing process, whether they are colleagues, editors or peer reviewers. By taking the time to examine the potential biases existing in their own work as well as the work of others, researchers and authors can help to make the world of scholarly communication more inclusive.”

In order to have many points of entry, the primary section of the toolkit is organized into lists. To avoid falling into the trappings of default or biased thinking, the information might be ordered randomly or in alphabetical order. Once a term is named, the guides define the term, suggest ways of avoiding discriminatory language, offers ways to reframe the term, points to some concrete examples in research and provides references. While the entries are not exhaustive, they do provide a useful way for participants in the knowledge creation and dissemination ecosystem to learn, change, use and help the communities they serve.

“Scholarly communication is often defined as ‘the system through which research and other scholarly writings are created, evaluated for quality, disseminated to the scholarly community and preserved for future use.’ It is meant to serve the public and advance the pursuit of knowledge. It is important that this is done in a way that includes the whole - not just of scholarly communication itself, but of society,” wrote the authors.

C4DISC was founded by representatives from 10 trade and professional associations. Its vision is a socially just community that welcomes, values and celebrates all who seek to contribute to scholarly communications, and its mission is to work with organizations and individuals to build equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility within the community. C4DISC members meet monthly to address its areas of focus, including developing a joint statement of principles; conducting market research; providing training resources, best practices, toolkits, and documentation for our collective memberships; and establishing outreach programs, curricula, events and publications.