Building Honest, Accountable Workplace Culture in Scholarly Publishing Through Practicing Allyship

The scholarly publishing industry, despite its intellectual foundations, is not immune to biases or racial disparities. While efforts to diversify editorial boards, reviewer pools, and to support researchers in low- and middle-income countries, are commendable, racism remains deeply embedded in the structures of scholarly communication. These challenges are compounded by growing political polarization and the global rise of far-right movements, which have contributed to the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. As a result, scholarly publishers, university presses, and learned society presses often face uncertainty in how to uphold ethical, inclusive, and non-discriminatory publishing practices. To address these challenges, this poster introduces allyship as an important component of building equitable and inclusive work environments. Developed by experts and academics from the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) and the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP), the revised Antiracism Toolkit for Allies provides practical steps for fostering inclusive cultures, building accountable relationships across diverse groups, and addressing microaggressions to ensure workplaces where all individuals can thrive.