In keeping with the core values statements, the Association has made work towards equity, inclusion, diversity, and justice a core part of our mission as an organization of scholarly publishers. The Association’s Statement on Equity and Anti-Racism, approved by the AUPresses Board of Directors in spring 2020, keeps those commitments in view of our leadership, staff, volunteer committees, and members.
The AUPresses Equity, Justice, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee (EJIB) finalized and published the “Diversity & Inclusion Baseline Survey for Publishing Partners” toolkit to help university presses audit the demographics of their authors, editors, reviewers, and other partners. The Association has made use of this invaluable toolkit to survey our 2023-2024 committee volunteer community; a benchmark report will be circulated to the membership later in 2024.
The Association, in partnership with the larger scholarly communications community, continues to advance this commitment to equity. As a founding member of the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC), AUPresses, particularly our Director of Operations Kim Miller, provides key administrative infrastructure for the group. C4DISC sponsored the 2023 Workplace Equity (WE) in Scholarly Publishing survey which examined workplace culture and representation throughout the global scholarly communications sector, looking at any trends since the original 2018 WE Survey. Recently published data and analysis from this effort is a vital complement to the published report of the Lee & Low Diversity Baseline Survey 3.0, which focused on the North American publishing industry.
The university press community has turned significant attention to need to produce accessible digital publications. The Association’s Board of Directors commissioned Kasdorf & Associates to develop an “Accessibility Guidance Report for University Presses” and host a webinar on making ebooks accessible. The AUPresses Editorial, Design, and Production (EDP) and Digital Publishing Committees also compiled a accessibility resources guide for members.