YOUR GO-TO INTELLIGENCE RESOURCE FOR THE SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

The Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) is now accepting new members, partners, and volunteers. C4DISC was originally formed in 2017 by a small group of trade and professional associations, to discuss and address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the scholarly communications industry.

Since then, the founding members have met regularly to establish a joint statement of principles, and define the organisation’s mission, vision, and values. Over the past year, with the generous support of Educopia, C4DISC engaged in the formal process of developing an operational model. Under this governance structure, two of the founding member organisations, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and the Association of University Presses, will serve as joint host organisations.

The goal of C4DISC is to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in scholarly communications while valuing differences, welcoming diverse perspectives, learning from different communities, making space for marginalised voices, and eliminating barriers. Supported by an expanded membership, C4DISC will be able to meaningfully engage in DEI work within the scholarly communication ecosystem.

There are several ways that individuals and organisations can participate in making the community more inclusive, equitable, diverse, and accessible. In an attempt to focus its efforts and achieve maximum impact, formal membership in C4DISC is limited to consortial members that represent the organisations and individuals who work in scholarly communications. Other organisations can get involved and have a voice in C4DISC initiatives directly as Partners.

Individuals and organisations can also contribute to the work of C4DISC by volunteering their time through working groups, making a donation, or joining the more than 40 organizations that have already expressed their support for improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in scholarly communications by adopting C4DISC’s Statement of Principles. Those interested can learn more at C4DISC.org.

C4DISC will create several working groups to engage in concrete actions that will improve DEI in scholarly communications. Two of these groups will continue the work started by the initiative, ‘Toolkits for Equity: Transforming Scholarly Publishing Communities,’ whose first toolkit is available on the C4DISC website.

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