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Charting a new course for inclusion, diversity, and equity in global health, PLOS Global Public Health

IMAGE SOURCE-   PLOS

Authors include Julia Robinson, executive editor of PLOS Global Public Health, and editors-in-chief Catherine Kyobutungi and Madhukar Pai.

Written by Catherine We are living in a critical period in the history of global public health as scholars, educators, practitioners, medical professionals, activists, and as people. The field of global health, which held great promise after the Declaration of Alma Ata to end systems of colonization, exploitation, discrimination, and unequal access to healthcare, has sadly replicated some of the same systems that have sustained the worst inequities over the past few decades. While low- and middle-income nations are left to deal with the toughest health concerns with the fewest resources, power continues to be concentrated in the hands of a few elite in a small number of high-income countries.gi and PLOS Global Public Health Editor-in-Chief Madhukar Pai and PLOS Executive Editor Julia Robinson The ongoing struggle for vaccine equity during the Covid-19 pandemic – in which rich countries have the luxury of imagining a post-pandemic life while poor countries grapple with newer, more dangerous variants and a lack of available vaccines – is the best illustration of the power asymmetry inherent in global public health

The Covid-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter and Women in Global Health movements, as well as ongoing calls to decolonize global health, have all opened the door for uncomfortable but crucial conversations that expose serious power and privilege imbalances that permeate all facets of the field [2], including funding [3] and authorship of research and scientific publications [4-6]. The lack of affordability for authors from low- and middle-income countries [9, 10] and the lack of diversity at all levels in global health journals [7, 8] are two major issues that journal publishers must address.

Power imbalances occur within regions of the global South and even within individual countries, just as they have between high- and low-income countries and have recently come to light. Some nations are routinely left out of the global knowledge system due to capacity or linguistic restrictions [11, 12], while significant voices in global public health are left out due to power imbalances among scientists, communities, and public health practitioners.

Therefore, a new journal in global public health needs to be open to having these difficult dialogues while leveraging advocacy, academic discourse, and research to consciously shift the power structure in favor of social justice, equity, and diversity. With the introduction of PLOS Global Public Health, a global Open Access forum for public health research, we hope to bridge disciplinary and geographic divides in order to solve the most pressing health issues and disparities that our society is currently dealing with.

PLOS Global Public Health's goal is to address persistent imbalances in global health and make important research visible and available to the public, policy-makers, and health professionals. To increase the range and diversity of viewpoints we learn from and advance the well-being of all people, we are dedicated to amplifying the voices of underrepresented and historically excluded communities. We are deliberate about equity, diversity, and inclusion at all levels - editors, editorial boards, peer reviewers, and authors.

The journal's mission is centered on equity, diversity, and inclusion; this will be intentional at all levels of the organization, from its leadership (i.e., Editors-in-Chief), to Section Editors and the Editorial Board, to the authors and communities it serves. To ensure representation from historically underrepresented and excluded groups, we shall consciously and aggressively seek out a diverse pool of specialists from all regions and identities. We will highlight the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) professionals, particularly those from the Global South, Indigenous scholars, and people who work and live in the communities that they have an impact on.

We shall refrain from becoming elitist: In the spirit of PLOS ONE, we will place more emphasis on the quality of the research and its contribution to the body of academic knowledge than on novelty or impact factors.

We'll be reachable: All content, including manuscripts and data, will have instant, gold open access thanks to PLOS Global Public Health. Article processing costs and publication fees won't be an obstacle (for more information, go to https://plos.org/publish/fees/). We intend to work toward linguistic accessibility and cross-border research communication because we are aware of the drawbacks of just publishing articles in English.

In our work, we'll make an effort to be more feminism-, anti-racist-, patriarchal-, ableist-, anti-elitist-, and anti-classist. We will specifically discuss and reject any helicopter or parachute research. Last but not least, we will disseminate research that addresses health disparities anywhere they exist, not just in low-income nations.  

We will publish rigorously ethical and methodologically sound research that has an impact on public health, and we especially seek submissions that report on studies examining health inequities and initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion in public health.  We take into account submissions in a variety of fields, such as but not restricted to: global health delivery; infectious diseases; non-communicable diseases; race and health; mental health; laboratory medicine; maternal, newborn, and child health; nutrition; sexual and reproductive health and rights; Indigenous health; environmental and planetary health; social and behavioral health; humanitarian aid and conflict/displacement; injuries, trauma

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PLOS Global Public Health welcomes submissions describing methods, software, databases, or other tools that meet the journal's criteria for utility, validity, and originality. These submissions can be quantitative or qualitative primary research that adds to the body of academic knowledge, including interdisciplinary research articles, clinical trials, replication studies, and negative or null results.

We are aiming high with this new journal, and we anticipate being held accountable. We understand that we must go above and beyond pledges [13]. Along the way, we'll make mistakes, but we'll also learn from them and get better. We are eager to collaborate and grow with the global public health community as we forge ahead with our efforts to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in global health.

LINK SOURCE- https://speakingofmedicine.plos.org/2021/06/14/plos-global-public-health-charting-a-new-                                           path-towards-equity-diversity-and-inclusion-in-global-health/