Gender equality and non-sexist language

Policy on Best Practices in Gender Equality

The SpanJMedEd (RevEspEduMed) is committed to promoting equality between men and women, giving visibility to the scientific work of women, and promoting the use of inclusive language in scientific publications through the following actions (among others):

  • Maintaining a balance in the percentage of women and men on the journal's editorial team.
  • Ensuring a minimum of 40% female authors and reviewers of submitted works (more information in Transparency).
  • Requesting the use of inclusive language in scientific articles because it recognizes diversity, is respectful of all people, takes differences into account, and promotes equal opportunities.
  • Requiring that authors report whether the source data for the research takes gender into account, in order to allow for the identification of potential disparities.
  • Inclusion in the journal of the full names of the authors of the articles it publishes helps to highlight the expertise of female authors in research. Therefore, we have updated the citation guidelines (from now on, please include the full names of the authors in the bibliographic references).

Inclusive and non-sexist language

The SpanJMedEd (RevEspEduMed)recommends that published articles use inclusive and non-sexist language that promotes gender equality in science, as promoted by the European Research Area (ERA) agenda: 2022-2024 period, with action no. 5: "Promoting gender equality and fostering inclusion."

In our journal, we understand that not all texts are equally suitable for adapting certain linguistic formulas to the requirements of gender-inclusive language. We are also aware that promoting equality goes far beyond merely morphological aspects. However, we assume, as stated in the Guide to Non-Sexist Language (UAM, 2019), that language has sufficient resources and mechanisms to express what one wants to convey, so that "whoever produces the message can choose between different forms to express themselves in an inclusive and non-sexist way, so that language becomes an instrument for change" (p. 9).

We recommend reading the APA's inclusive writing guidelines: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language

In our journal, we believe that a small effort when writing articles will ultimately represent a significant step forward for society. Scientific communication cannot remain detached from the changes taking place in the society that sustains it.