Stimulating Participation of Underrepresented Groups in INFORMS Editorial Boards
2021 DEI Ambassador Alice Smith
This project aimed to increase the number and diversity of participants in journal editor activities, with an emphasis on INFORMS journals. Journals, as the main outlet for scholarly publications, are hallmarks of careers in academia and research. Volunteers perform the roles of reviewer, associate editor, department or area editor, and editor in chief for journals. Participation in these roles can be incredibly valuable to the academic / researcher as it provides firsthand involvement with the peer review process. This participation is also crucial to the advancement and sharing of knowledge as the editors/reviewers provide the key input and decision making in the peer review publishing process. Moreover, editor roles are often important attributes when advancing through the faculty tenure and promotion processes and can also assist the career progression of non-academic researchers. Scholarly publication is an area that will benefit strongly from full participation of the diversity of researchers. This project focused on expanding the number of people from underrepresented groups who are involved with journal reviewing and, more importantly, editing. The approach was holistic, from the entry-level tasks such as reviewing, progressing through the editorial ranks culminating as an editor in chief.