0902 knowledge equity

Knowledge equity and diversity

What is knowledge equity and diversity? 

Equity and diversity in publishing means there are equal chances for academic work to get funded, reviewed, published, indexed, seen and reused by anyone who can potentially benefit from it. This applies to all types of scholarly and scientific knowledge, publications and authors. Because their language, origin, ethnicity, topic or format are irrelevant to the quality of work. 

Utrecht University is committed to promoting knowledge equity and knowledge diversity. That is why since 2023 we have been a key user of the Knowledge Equity Network. Read more about the actions taken by Utrecht University and the University Library, and our statement of commitment to knowledge equity and diversity.   

Which open access routes contribute to this?  

In principle, every route to open access publishing contributes to knowledge equality compared to closed publishing. This is because it makes your research output freely and openly accessible to readers. However, not all routes contribute equally to an equitable publishing landscape. 

  • Diamond: The diamond route aims to remove financial barriers for both readers and authors. This enables researchers from all over the world, regardless of their institution or university, to publish their work. 
  • Gold en hybrid: By publishing via gold or hybrid models, you make your work freely accessible to anyone who wishes to read it, but these publication models still create an uneven playing field for authors.   
  • Green: Green open access is free for both readers and authors. However, as it requires a robust institutional infrastructure, not all authors worldwide have access to a reliable green route. 

What else can I do?

Knowledge equity is not just about money, but also about things like accessibility. Consider for instance publishing in machine-readable formats, publishing summaries for non-specialists, or publishing in languages other than English. 

  • Would you like to publish in Dutch or a language other than English? In the Directory of Open Access Journals, you can filter open access journals by language.
  • Choose an open licence (CC BY) whenever you can. This makes it easier to adapt and share your published work in other formats, adaptations or translations.

You can also support knowledge equity in other roles. For instance, as an editor or peer reviewer you can ensure that articles written by non-native speakers are not rejected solely on the basis of the author’s language skills.