PEEER: Publishing for an Ethical and Equitable Environment in Research

Editors

Following the lead of scientific societies who, in late 2023, developed a Joint Statement on Scientific Publishing, PEEER has developed a complementary joint statement for editors. The statement was drafted by the “Evolving the Publishing Ecosystem” Working Group (a collection of journal, library, not-for-profit-publisher, and society representatives) in Montréal, Canada, on the 30th July 2024, and the statement was formally adopted by PEEER on 10 October 2024.

We invite all editors and editorial boards to adopt this statement, or a variant thereof, and to implement the principles that recognize your ability to facilitate positive change in the scientific publishing ecosystem.

Joint Statement by Editors on Principles for #BetterPublishing (Oct’24)

As the principal arbiters working regularly at the interface between the generation and dissemination of information, editors shall take leadership roles in publishing, including:

  • preserving the scholarly integrity of journals by rejecting any direct or indirect interference in editorial and peer review processes, which should depend on the disciplinary expertise and research experience of independent editorial boards 
  • fostering an editorial system that evaluates and protects a rigorous scientific process 
  • supporting access to research by employing processes that increase opportunities for diverse researchers, including promoting equity, early career support, and the inclusion of geographically underrepresented researchers 
  • facilitating training for community members in scholarly writing, as well as on the principles of better publishing to increase accessibility and equity
  • advocating for affordable and equitable publishing options including open access models and initiatives driven by learned societies
  • producing society journal(s) preferentially over journals owned by for-profit publishers.
  • encouraging transparency in relationships and operations
  • Informing journal owners/managers of concerns, best practices, and expectations of the scholarly publishing community
  • seeking guidance from emerging researchers about their concerns and hopes for publishing

A precursor to this statement (version 1) was adopted by PEEER in May 2024