Survey Finds Lack of Diversity Among Journal Editors

Collecting data on the various races, sexual orientations, and gender identities of editors at 25 scientific and medical journals, researchers document the underrepresentation of minority groups.

Written byJef Akst

| 4 min read

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Compared to the general population, as well as to medical school faculty or practicing physicians, Black and Hispanic/Latinx individuals are underrepresented at top-tier scientific and medical journals, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine June 11. White individuals accounted for more than 75 percent of editors in the survey and Asian individuals for another 15 percent.

Overall, more work clearly needs to be done to establish an inclusive environment for sexual and gender minorities in medicine and science; this applies for journals as well.

The team of researchers, led by James Salazar, a clinical research fellow at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and an editorial fellow at JAMA IM, emailed a survey to 654 editors at 25 journals (17 in the US and 8 in Europe), asking them about their race and ethnic background, as well as their sexual orientation and gender ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
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Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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