Publishing inclusive research - 'nothing about us without us'
By Louise Skelding Tattle, Associate Director, Research Integrity
Minority and marginalised groups have historically been underrepresented in conventional modes of academic research where the balance of power sits with researchers rather than those participating in the research. Discussions about how to make research more inclusive, i.e. involve communities directly affected by the research problem, have been particularly applied to disability research where the centuries-old political motto Nihil de nobis, sine nobis (Nothing about us without us) has been the rallying cry for disability activisim since the 90s.
The term 'inclusive research' (or often 'collaborative research' in the US) has since become a more 'transformative movement' looking at how to ensure research outcomes work for the affected community and not a narrow group of privileged participants.
Publishing inclusive research in SAGE journals also extends to avoiding so-called 'helicopter' or 'parachute' science, which describes practices where researchers from high-income countries conduct research in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) with either no or minimal involvement from local communities. ‘Ethics dumping’ is a related problem where researchers from high-income countries conduct questionable studies in areas with less rigorous ethical standards in order to circumvent legal and ethical standards in their home countries.
SAGE is introducing guidance for our authors aimed at addressing these exploitative practices. We want our authors to present for publication research that has treated local participants equitably and has local relevance and community benefit. The guidance is based on the Global Code of Conduct for Research in Resource-Poor Settings, which was developed by TRUST, an EU funded project on research ethics and is available on the SAGE Author Gateway here.
SAGE also recognises the inequalities that exist in attributing authorship and the role that editors and publishers have to play in promoting equality in journal publishing. We support the Consensus statement on measures to promote equitable authorship in the publication of research from international partnerships (Morton, B. et al, 2022) and recommend that authors/editors refer to this statement when preparing research in LMICs/considering this LMIC-based research for publication. Journal editors may additionally be interested in SAGE’s guidance and resources aimed at developing diversity, inclusivity and equality in their journals: Taking Action on Diversity.
