Building equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications
LATEST NEWS
The Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) is pleased to announce the formal launch of our organization, which will enable us to meaningfully engage in the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work that the scholarly publishing/communications ecosystem needs today more than ever. C4DISC began in 2017 as an idea among a group of scholarly publishing organizations who saw a critical lack of diverse voices in the world of scholarly communications and wanted to take collective action to improve this situation.
Consortial groups such as societies and associations whose membership is composed of individuals, companies, or organizations, and whose mission and membership are related to scholarly communications, are invited to join C4DISC.
Organizations whose business/work is related to scholarly communications who wish to support the work of C4DISC are invited to become a C4DISC partner. Examples may include publishers, libraries, industry suppliers, university presses, and more.
Individuals who work or have an interest in scholarly communications and wish to support the work of C4DISC can show their support by participating in working groups that will carry out various and ongoing C4DISC initiatives.
C4DISC gladly and gratefully accepts donations from individuals, no matter how small. Funds will be used to support activities focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in scholarly communications so that we can provide helpful resources.
We invite all scholarly communications organizations to join us in showing support for making our community more diverse, equal, and inclusive by signing the Joint Statement of Principles. Register your adoption of the Principles on the website.
“Our overall goal is to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in scholarly communications while valuing differences, welcoming diverse perspectives, learning from different communities, making space for marginalized voices, eliminating barriers, and serving as allies to our colleagues who are Black, indigenous, and people of color.”
“We are pleased to be one of the founding members of this Coalition, working together towards inclusive practices within the scholarly communications ecosystem and in keeping with our Association’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism.” – Peter Berkery, Executive Director, Association of University Presses
Working Groups Currently Accepting Volunteers
Communications and Outreach
Antiracism Toolkit for Organizations
Antiracism Toolkit for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
The communications and outreach working group will develop press releases, articles, social media posts, presentations, and more to let our community know about the work C4DISC is doing and to recruit additional members, partners, volunteers, and donors.
The Antiracism Toolkit for Organizations will provide tools for understanding institutionalized racism, broadening hiring and recruiting, working to correct bias, including historically marginalized perspectives in decision making, developing retention plans and a more inclusive pipeline, and creating affinity groups and mentorship programs.
The Antiracism Toolkit for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color will provide advice on safely navigating predominantly white spaces that may feel exclusionary, i.e., building mentorship relationships, expanding career paths, advocating for change, and self-care.
“Equity takes many forms and, while opening up access to research is the core of OASPA’s mission, there is so much more to be done to make sure that the scholarly ecosystem itself is as equitable, diverse and inclusive as possible. It is important that we work as a collective, and the team behind C4DISC truly shares these values and wants to see and support real change in scholarly communications.” – Claire Redhead, Executive Director, OASPA
“NASIG’s commitment to C4DISC’s principles has led to the creation of NASIG’s Diversity and Inclusion Award, in partnership with Harrassowitz. This award aids in eliminating barriers to participation in NASIG and extends equitable opportunities. NASIG’s Equity and Inclusion Committee facilitated NASIG’s 34th annual conference town hall discussion and promotes collaboration through an anonymous feedback forum. These spaces strive to maintain an environment that respects diverse traditions, heritages, and experiences as well as enhancing full participation in programs and decision-making. NASIG’s Equity and Inclusion Committee will continue to use C4DISC’s principles to influence the ways it continues to shape future activities and service to the community by providing educational opportunities related to diversity and social justice.” – Dana Tomlin, Chair, NASIG Equity & Inclusion Committee
“The Council of Science Editors joined C4DISC as an effort for our organization to become more effective in promoting the inclusion of diverse voices in the scholarly communication community. CSE is firmly committed to embracing the diversity of our organization and our profession. We are very happy to be a founding member of C4DISC as a partner in this commitment.” – Patricia Baskin, Representative to C4DISC from the Council of Science Editors and Executive Editor, Neurology® Journals, American Academy of Neurology
“The Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) is proud to be a founding member of C4DISC. While the LPC represents a robust and growing network of libraries, we are acutely aware that persons of color are significantly underrepresented in library publishing. By collaborating with other organizations to support C4DISC, the LPC hopes to change scholarly communications for the better.” – Scott Warren, LPC Board Member and Associate Dean for Research Excellence at the Syracuse University Libraries.
“SSP is very proud to be both a founding member and active contributor in C4DISC. SSP is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion; the condemnation of racism and discrimination of all forms; and the need to confront our individual, institutional, and societal biases. We recognize the power of working in coalition, and believe that together with C4DISC’s adopting organizations we can have a greater impact than acting alone.” – Lauren Kane, SSP President and CSO at Morressier
“We are proud to be a founding member of C4DISC and to contribute to the important mission of the Coalition in advocating for equity, diversity and inclusion in scholarly communications. As a Canadian association for scholarly journals, we are pleased and privileged to help promote the diverse voices of marginalized communities, and engage our membership in ongoing learning opportunities on the topics of equity and inclusion.” – Antonia Pop, President of the Canadian Association of Learned Journals / Association Canadienne des revues savants
“We are pleased to be one of the founding members of this Coalition, working together towards inclusive practices within the scholarly communications ecosystem and in keeping with our Association’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism.” – Peter Berkery, Executive Director, Association of University Presses
“Equity takes many forms and, while opening up access to research is the core of OASPA’s mission, there is so much more to be done to make sure that the scholarly ecosystem itself is as equitable, diverse and inclusive as possible. It is important that we work as a collective, and the team behind C4DISC truly shares these values and wants to see and support real change in scholarly communications.” – Claire Redhead, Executive Director, OASPA
“NASIG’s commitment to C4DISC’s principles has led to the creation of NASIG’s Diversity and Inclusion Award, in partnership with Harrassowitz. This award aids in eliminating barriers to participation in NASIG and extends equitable opportunities. NASIG’s Equity and Inclusion Committee facilitated NASIG’s 34th annual conference town hall discussion and promotes collaboration through an anonymous feedback forum. These spaces strive to maintain an environment that respects diverse traditions, heritages, and experiences as well as enhancing full participation in programs and decision-making. NASIG’s Equity and Inclusion Committee will continue to use C4DISC’s principles to influence the ways it continues to shape future activities and service to the community by providing educational opportunities related to diversity and social justice.” – Dana Tomlin, Chair, NASIG Equity & Inclusion Committee
“SSP is very proud to be both a founding member and active contributor in C4DISC. SSP is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion; the condemnation of racism and discrimination of all forms; and the need to confront our individual, institutional, and societal biases. We recognize the power of working in coalition, and believe that together with C4DISC’s adopting organizations we can have a greater impact than acting alone.” – Lauren Kane, SSP President and CSO at Morressier
