An Analysis of Publisher DEI Policies

Objectives: How are publishers, electronic resource providers, and grant funding agencies incorporating the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into their policies and business models? How might prioritization of these values improve the author experience and promote diversity in scholarship?

Methods: The authors evaluated the websites of major providers of medical education and clinical electronic resources and their popular imprints, in addition to major funding bodies of medical research, for information representing approaches to DEI. This included reviewing both general policy sections, author guidelines, and site searching for DEI keywords.

Results: There is not yet an industry standard for inclusion of DEI principles into the policies of publishers, electronic resource providers, and grant funding agencies. The authors discovered inconsistent adoption of these values and the importance placed on them among the organizations evaluated. Results ranged from no mention of DEI to explicit support for social movements around DEI and established equity goals.

Conclusions: There is significant opportunity for publishers, electronic resources providers, and grant funding bodies to incorporate DEI principles in their business models. The authors intend this project to highlight this area and identify ways publishers can improve. As the project progresses, the authors hope to engage more library vendors in the conversation as well as information professionals who can add their unique expertise and experience to give the project more depth and help it grow.