Springer Nature has signed the Joint Commitment for Action on Inclusion and Diversity in Publishing - an initiative coordinated by the Royal Society of Chemistry - joining a key group of organisations that are working towards a more inclusive and diverse culture within scholarly publishing.
Springer Nature first appointed a director of diversity and inclusion in 2018 and over the past twelve months has shared its global diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy, which aims to embed the values of DEI both within the company and champion them within the communities it serves.
Participating in the Joint Commitment is one of a number of actions that Springer Nature is taking and reflects the need for publishers and others to act collaboratively to effect change across the scholarly publishing system.
According to Jessica Gedamu, Global Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, joining the Joint Commitment for Action on Inclusion and Diversity in Publishing offers Springer Nature an opportunity to share ideas and best practices across the industry. Through this initiative, the global publisher seeks to identify and share the best, most innovative approaches, and work together to increase representation of different communities within the industry.
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) launched the Joint Commitment for Action on Inclusion and Diversity in Publishing in June 2020 with an initial 11 signatories. As a group, members acknowledge that biases exist in scholarly publishing and commit to scrutinising their own processes to minimise these. The group agrees to openly pool members’ resources, expertise and insight to accelerate research culture change. The commitment has now brought together over 40 publishing organisations to set a new standard to ensure a more inclusive and diverse culture within scholarly publishing.
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