How we work to promote inclusive practices in book publishing

Author: Tamsine O’Riordan & Charlotte Hollingworth

We recently published a report that explores our efforts to build inclusive publishing practices in Springer Nature's book publishing programmes. In it, we present data on gender diversity among book authors and editors, exposing a persistent gender gap.  

In this post, we share insights from the report and discuss our efforts to further global inclusion in book publishing.

At  Springer Nature, our mission is to be part of progress, and that begins with inclusion: of people, perspectives, and ideas. We believe that diverse perspectives drive progress, and we are committed to creating an environment where people and ideas can flourish. To be able to represent this diversity in scholarly publishing, we work toward an inclusive publishing landscape.  

In the publishing process, we work with a broad global network of researchers serving as authors, editors, and reviewers. This collaboration gives us both the opportunity and the responsibility to promote unbiased practices and better reflect the evolving demographics of the research community.  

We rely on data to identify gaps, develop approaches, and monitor their impact, in support of our decision making and strategic planning. In the recently published report, titled Inclusive book publishing at Springer Nature, we present findings on gender representation among Springer Nature book authors and editors to illustrate how we are using data-informed insights, and reflect on approaches to improve inclusivity in publishing. 

“I’m proud to see the Books group engaging with and making progress on global inclusion in our publishing activities.”

- Niels Thomas, Executive VP, Books
 

Gender distribution of book authors and editors

We present a first-ever snapshot view of the inferred gender diversity of lead authors and editors and book series editors in Springer Nature. Ultimately, we would like to understand demographics across a broader range of variables. Geographical representation, for instance, is another example in which researcher demographics is undergoing transformation (the rising volume and impact of research from China is an example of this). But gender is a good starting point, especially because we can also compare our findings with gender representation in the research community.  

The snapshot, covering a five-year period (2019-2024), shows that women are underrepresented as authors and editors at Springer Nature: Women represent 29% of lead authors and editors of books, and 24% of book series editors.

The distribution of book authors and editors varies by discipline and largely tracks with trends on gender representation within the research community. The proportion of women authors also varies by book type, which is also seen in career-stage data of women in academia. 

The pattern of underrepresentation of women in scholarly book publishing corresponds to what we see in editor diversity at Springer Nature journals and what other publishers have reported. Given that women make up 30-50% of researchers globally, these percentages of women researchers as authors and editors in publishing does not reflect the gender representation in the global research community.

Data is essential to identifying disparities and addressing them. We collect information and make it available so that it can empower efforts to understand, recognise, and address challenges of global inclusion.

- Sowmya Swaminathan, Director, DEI, Research Publishing

Building inclusive practices in book publishing

We are working to integrate inclusive practices into our publishing programmes at Springer Nature. The starting point is making sure that knowledge about bias is available, as well as resources and opportunities to support people in turning this knowledge into practice.  

Some of these efforts include: 

• Peer-to-peer workshops for editors that provide a space to discuss topics related to bias and diversity and to formulate plans to improve diversity of both authors and publications.  
• Springer Nature’s Intentional Content Strategy that encourages editors to commission work that contributes to the scholarly discourse on topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion. 
• Integrating accessibility best practices to ensure our digital products, such as eBooks, meet the needs of all users.

Achieving representation and inclusion in our book publishing programme and beyond requires sustained efforts. Data informs our efforts, measures our progress, and enables us to plan strategically for new initiatives to confront disparities.

To learn more, read the full report: Inclusive book publishing at Springer Nature.