Research Inclusion

The NIHR are committed to embedding inclusion into everything we do. Diverse people and communities shape our research, and we strive to make an environment where opportunities to participate in research are an integral part of everyone's experience of health and social care services. This is why inclusion is one of the operating principles that guides all of our work at NIHR as set out in the Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter.

To support this commitment and as signatories of the Joint Commitment for action on inclusion and diversity in publishing: the Journals Library have committed to:

• Ensure equality, diversity and inclusion are integrated into our publishing activities and strategic planning.
• Understanding the demographic diversity of our authors, editorial decision makers and reviewers, such as gender, geography and ethnicity data, in order to establish acceptable and informed baseline levels and targets.
• Regularly review the barriers to publishing which authors, editorial decision makers and reviewers from under-represented communities experience and take actions to address them.
• Define and communicate the specific responsibilities authors, editorial decision makers, reviewers and staff members have towards inclusion and diversity.
• Review and revise as appropriate the appointment process for editors and editorial boards to capture the widest talent pool possible.
• Ensure that NIHR programmes benefit from the Journals Library publications, to better understand how research inclusion has been considered and incorporated into the research award to inform future funding decisions.
• Publicly report on our progress on inclusion and diversity in scholarly publishing at least once a year.

Research Inclusion reporting guidance

All NIHR award teams are expected to report on research inclusion within their Journals Library publications explaining how aspects of research inclusion have been considered and incorporated into the research award. Please refer to the Reporting Research Inclusion when writing your manuscripts.

Language and Terminology

Journals Library articles are based on current knowledge at the time and date of publication. We will continually monitor best practice and guidance in relation to terminology and language to ensure that we remain relevant to our stakeholders.

Please refer to our comprehensive Inclusive Language guide (.PDF) for more information.

Academic Freedom

The Journals Library's role is to ensure the research and findings are reported accurately and within our values: 

• Reports findings accurately, justified by the evidence of the research
• Provides a narrative that is contextualised within the discussion/reflection section
• Reports without bias
• Uses appropriate language and consistent terminology 

If our peer review or editorial processes identify that manuscript content is not in keeping with our values, NIHR Award teams will be informed and asked to take into consideration editorial comments when they make revisions. The final decision on the suitability of manuscript content remains with the Journals Library.

Support for Health and Social Care Researchers and Professionals 

The Journals Library supports NIHR’s mission to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, by attracting, training and supporting researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges.

Find out more about how we are supporting researchers and professionals.

Diversity data

Publishing Diversity data

The Journals Library is deeply committed to fostering a scientific community that supports and benefits from the talents of researchers from a wide range of backgrounds. We are beginning our inclusion journey by first understanding the demographic diversity of authors, editorial decision makers and reviewers.

One of the most important tools to enable us to make and monitor progress is the collection of data and evidence. Understanding the diversity of our contributors will help us to understand where we need to focus our efforts or remove barriers in the future. 

Please help us collect the data we need to measure our success at advancing equality, diversity, and inclusion in research by responding to the questions when prompted using the NIHR Research Awards Lifecycle Management System (REALMS).

NIHR Trial Participant Data

The report Randomised Controlled trial participants: Diversity data report (2022) is a step towards understanding who participates in research. The data analysed in this report relates to 148 RCTs that published findings in the Journals Library between April 2019 and March 2021 from clinical studies commencing between 2007 and 2017.

For more information on NIHR’s Diversity Data please follow this link: NIHR Diversity Data

Accessibility

The accessibility statement applies to the Journals Library website run by the NIHR. We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website and have designed it to be accessible wherever possible.

For more information or suggestions on how the Journals Library can embed Research Inclusion please contact Journals.Library@nihr.ac.uk