Promoting equity and social justice in the peer review process: Tips for reviewers

Abstract

The purpose of this document is to provide manuscript reviewers with recommendations and self-reflection questions for monitoring biases and promoting equity and social justice in the peer review process. Bias may impact how manuscripts are evaluated from the pre-review (e.g., decision to accept a review invitation) through the recommendation stages of the peer review process and can ultimately impact which authors and voices, topics, methodologies, and methods are represented in scholarly literature. We hope that the recommendations and self-reflection questions in the document will assist reviewers in facilitating a more equitable review process. The tips and questions are focused specifically on issues of equity and social justice; they are not intended to represent a comprehensive set of all critical self-reflection questions a reviewer might consider. Although a team of leaders from School Psychology International and the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation developed these tips, we hope they are relevant to reviewers across journals in school and educational psychology as well as in other related fields. The tips are derived from various sources (e.g., APA, 2021; Buchanan et al., 2020; SAGE Publishing, 2021). We recognize that these tips, considerations, and self-reflection questions are not exhaustive or complete, but hope they highlight important considerations for reflection and action.