A Free Comment Forum to Mitigate Epistemic Injustice in Academic Publication

ABSTRACT There is a growing discussion around the need for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in academia. Several leading publishers actively foster DEI policies related to publishing because, in the academic ecosystem, physical, linguistic, social capital, and credibility resources are unevenly distributed. Paradoxically, however, journals that promote DEI might only publish a few article types, such as original research and review papers. We argue here that journals with an editorial policy of restricted article formats, or that offer “invitation only” articles, are incompatible with DEI principles insofar as these journals offer only a limited‐choice format of publication to authors. One upshot of this is that restrictive editorial policies may perpetuate epistemic injustice against authors with fewer resources and credibility, who may collectively be denied suitable fora in which to share ideas. In consequence, we underline a new structural form of epistemic injustice, complementing existing forms, and argue that a “first page free” comment forum should exist in all academic journals to mitigate it.