Supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion & Your Library

As we have all seen, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is now at the forefront of the academic community. It is encouraging to see so many institutions and industries now focusing on this important concept and the ideals that we as a company are founded upon. Since the company's inception in 1988, we have had a collective mission and belief that all research, no matter how unrecognized, contributes significantly to the advancement of knowledge; therefore, it deserves the opportunity to be published. Unlike many other publishers, we continue to believe that it is the research that drives the publishing process, allowing us to ensure that underrepresented voices are heard, that niche content areas are cultivated, and that researchers of all levels are afforded the same opportunities as their peers.

I have had the fortunate opportunity to work for IGI Global for more than 15 years and I have witnessed first-hand how, through this mission, we have been extremely instrumental in providing underrepresented researchers editorial opportunities, published some of the most internationally diverse publications, and truly impacted and supported the academic community in DEI. Through our publishing process and international reach, we have not only been able to embrace DEI but practice it for over 30+ years, as we have:

• Collaborated with over 150,000+ academicians and researchers from 200+ countries with 40% of our contributors coming from non-Western countries. This includes 215+ journal editors (25% hailing from non-western countries) and an established network of 15,000+ reviewers from 140+ countries.
• Ensured that all our publications undergo a strict double-blind peer review process, with full anonymity of contributors’ and reviewers’ identities and demographic information including race, gender, sexual orientation, geographical location, etc. with the focus of the evaluation solely based on the quality and merit of the research content.
• Published over 320+ titles on DEI, which are all featured in our DEI e-Book Collection.
• Established direct regional representation and a vast network of 220+ international distributors and partners to ensure that all communities are supported.
• Provided our authors, editors, contributors, and reviewers of all stages in their career (senior researchers and also early-career researchers) with resources to help increase international collaborations and overcome cultural barriers, as well as offered enhanced services to English-as-a-second-language researchers (including copy editing, scientific and scholarly review, and more).
• Established a truly diverse staff in our headquarters in Hershey, Pennsylvania with strong gender diversity among our senior leadership, and individual employees coming from various ethnic backgrounds.

As an independent publisher, we can stand proudly in support of this movement and have assisted in increasing the discoverability and citation impact for some of the brightest aspiring experts internationally. Unfortunately, for so many years, and in so many corners of the world, DEI has not been prioritized within the academic community or by many major publishing houses. Due to this, there are still millions of academicians and researchers fighting an uphill battle for equality, representation, and recognition. View our full stance on this issue. As an overall collective, we are faced with this ongoing reality that although the industry is now focused on DEI, we will need to deconstruct and rebuild hundreds of years of industry practices to create a true change in the industry.

Through this mindset, we are asking for your institution’s and library’s support to create this catalyst of change in the industry through collaborating directly with IGI Global. We have provided innovative solutions to not only support DEI but to enable you to affordably acquire the latest peer-reviewed research and patron-focused services. These opportunities include:

In early 2018 (well in advance of Plan S), we unveiled our Open Access Fee Waiver (Read & Publish) Initiative. Under this initiative, when libraries invest in our e-Collections, including our full collection of 6,600+ reference books (e-Book Collection) and/or full collection of 140+ scholarly journals (e-Journal Collections), we match the investment of the institution with a fund of 100% OA APC waivers. Hundreds of institutions have taken advantage of this initiative since its launch, including San Jose State University, USA; Deakin University, Australia; Virginia Tech University, USA; University of North Texas, USA; University of Bath, UK; and more.

This will provide underrepresented researchers the opportunity to freely share their research, provide sustainable OA funding to institutions, and increase the citation impact and discoverability of DEI research and our entire collection.

To support libraries and their research patrons to embrace this historical movement, enhance awareness of DEI, and embrace scholarly discourse on these topics, we recently launched a new DEI e-Book Collection, which features 320+ e-books that cover accessibility, gender and identity, culture and race, religion, human resources, civic engagement, and more. It includes research from the 2006-2022 copyright year with several titles set to release this year to ensure that institutions have access to the latest content in these areas. To ensure that these resources are made highly accessible, we are offering this collection for as low as US$ 1,000 (total books in this collection valued at US$ 65,650), as it provides an essential resource for institutions that are championing DEI and/or looking to enhance their DEI efforts.

While we transition into this pivotal time in academia with institutions, publishers, researchers, and the librarian community responding to this historical DEI movement; it is important to not only support and recognize those in the industry that are touting their commitment (especially those that have always historically supported this movement), but also to maintain an awareness of those who might be simply aiming to profiteer from this movement as they pose a threat to actual real long-term solutions being enacted. Through your direct support and collaboration, we are not only able to increase publishing international research, but can also continue to aid the library and researcher community in this mission. Understand that no matter industry trends, norms, or standards, we will maintain supporting DEI and its trajectory for years to come.

For more information or to schedule a call to discuss our stance on DEI, transformative OA offerings, our DEI e-Book Collection, and more, contact our e-Collections Team at eresources@igi-global.com or 717-533-8845 (ext. 100). Additionally, view our full stance on DEI in the academic publishing industry.