Non-White scientists appear on fewer editorial boards, spend more time under review, and receive fewer citations
Significance
Empirical evidence suggests that non-White scientists experience various forms of inequality, creating barriers to their entry and participation in academic research. We contribute to this literature by examining disparities in i) editorial board representation, ii) time spent under review, and iii) citation rates. Using a dataset of 1,000,000 papers from six publishers over the past two decades, we find fewer non-White editors than would be expected based on their share of authorship. Moreover, non-White scientists endure longer waiting times between the submission and acceptance of their manuscripts, and upon publication, their papers receive fewer citations than would be expected based on textual similarity. These findings highlight ways through which non-White scientists suffer from inequalities, potentially hindering their academic careers.
Abstract
Disparities continue to pose major challenges in various aspects of science. One such aspect is editorial board composition, which has been shown to exhibit racial and geographical disparities. However, the literature on this subject lacks longitudinal studies quantifying the degree to which the racial composition of editors reflects that of scientists. Other aspects that may exhibit racial disparities include the time spent between the submission and acceptance of a manuscript and the number of citations a paper receives relative to textually similar papers, but these have not been studied to date. To fill this gap, we compile a dataset of 1,000,000 papers published between 2001 and 2020 by six publishers, while identifying the handling editor of each paper. Using this dataset, we show that most countries in Asia, Africa, and South America (where the majority of the population is ethnically non-White) have fewer editors than would be expected based on their share of authorship. Focusing on US-based scientists reveals Black as the most underrepresented race. In terms of acceptance delay, we find, again, that papers from Asia, Africa, and South America spend more time compared to other papers published in the same journal and the same year. Regression analysis of US-based papers reveals that Black authors suffer from the greatest delay. Finally, by analyzing citation rates of US-based papers, we find that Black and Hispanic scientists receive significantly fewer citations compared to White ones doing similar research. Taken together, these findings highlight significant challenges facing non-White scientists.
F. Liu, T. Rahwan, & B. AlShebli, Non-White scientists appear on fewer editorial boards, spend more time under review, and receive fewer citations, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120 (13) e2215324120, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2215324120 (2023).