Gender Equality Policy
Gender Equality Policy
The Journal reaffirms its commitment to gender equality, diversity, and non-discrimination across all stages of the editorial process, promoting transparent and inclusive editorial practices in line with international standards of scientific quality.
1. Editorial participation
The Journal shall promote a balanced representation of women and men in the composition of its editorial bodies, particularly the Editorial Board and the Advisory Board, seeking to ensure that neither sex accounts for less than 40% of membership, always in accordance with criteria of merit, competence, and scientific excellence.
Likewise, the Journal shall foster gender balance in the selection of external peer reviewers, ensuring that their appointment is based exclusively on criteria of expertise, independence, and scientific competence.
2. Gender equality in research
The Journal encourages the consideration of sex and gender dimensions in research whenever these are relevant to the subject matter of the study.
To this end, it takes the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) Guidelines as a reference, encouraging authors, editors, and reviewers to assess the relevance of these variables in the research design, methodology, analysis of results, discussion, and conclusions, whenever applicable to the nature of the work.
Accordingly, authors are advised to include, where appropriate, an analysis of sex and/or gender that allows for the identification of the potential influence of these variables on the research process and outcomes.
3. Inclusive language and editorial best practices
The Journal recommends the use of inclusive and non-sexist language in manuscripts, in accordance with good practices in scientific communication and the United Nations guidelines on the use of gender-inclusive language.
It also recommends that the full names of authors be provided both in submitted manuscripts and in cited works, avoiding the exclusive use of initials or abbreviations, in order to ensure proper identification and visibility of scientific authorship.
During the peer-review process, when relevant to the nature of the work, reviewers shall assess whether the manuscript adequately incorporates the sex and/or gender dimension in the research design, methodology, analysis of results, and conclusions. The absence of such analysis shall not constitute grounds for rejection when these variables are not relevant to the subject of the study.
4. Monitoring and transparency
The Journal shall periodically monitor the implementation of this policy and seek to collect aggregated statistical data on the gender composition of its editorial bodies, peer reviewers, and authors of published works.
Where feasible, this information may be made publicly available in order to enhance transparency, evaluate the evolution of equality policies, and promote the continuous improvement of editorial practices.
