Subject(s)
Endocrinology , Gynecology , Periodicals as Topic/trends , Editorial Policies , Societies, MedicalSubject(s)
COVID-19 , Nephrology , Periodicals as Topic , Publishing , Biopsy , Editorial Policies , Fellowships and Scholarships , Humans , SARS-CoV-2Subject(s)
COVID-19/prevention & control , Masks , Publication Bias , Research Design , Editorial Policies , Humans , SARS-CoV-2Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Editorial Policies , Pandemics , Periodicals as Topic , Radiology , Humans , SARS VirusABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed racism as a public health crisis embedded in structural processes. Editors of surgical research journals pledged their commitment to improve structure and process through increasing diversity in the peer review and editorial process; however, little benchmarking data are available. METHODS: A survey of editorial board members from high impact surgical research journals captured self-identified demographics. Analysis of manuscript submissions from 2016 to 2020 compared acceptance for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-focused manuscripts to overall rates. RESULTS: 25.6% of respondents were female, 2.9% Black, and 3.3% Hispanic. There was variation in the diversity among journals and in the proportion of DEI submissions they attract, but no clear correlation between DEI acceptance rates and board diversity. CONCLUSIONS: Diversity among board members reflects underrepresentation of minorities seen among surgeons nationally. Recruitment and retention of younger individuals, representing more diverse backgrounds, may be a strategy for change. DEI publication rates may benefit from calls for increasing DEI scholarship more so than changes to the peer review process.