Progress towards greater diversity in conservation publishing remains limited, according to a new study examining the backgrounds of authors and journal editors.
Published in Conservation Biology, the study found that overall author diversity increased between 2010 and 2020, with the proportion of women authors rising from 29.5% to 35.6%. However, most dimensions of diversity changed little over the decade.
Women from low- and lower-middle-income countries accounted for less than 1% of authors. In 2020–21, 80% of authors and 76% of editors identified as White, while nationals of the UK, USA and Australia accounted for 34% of authors and 49% of editors.
The international research team includes Dr Diogo Veríssimo, who leads the Biodiversity and Behavioural Science Team (BBeST) at the Environmental Change Institute. He said:
There is a need for journals to monitor diversity and inclusion metrics, just as they do citation metrics. This would help us understand how different groups are represented, or underrepresented, among authors and editors.”
The authors highlight the importance of improving representation in conservation research, noting that a wider range of perspectives can strengthen research and help reflect the challenges faced by different communities.
Read the full paper in Conservation Biology: Representation in conservation publishing
