Month: June 2023

The U.S. ORCID Consortium is five!

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the formation of the U.S. ORCID Community through Lyrasis, Scholarly Kitchen interviewed Sheila Rabun, the original ORCID U.S. Community Specialist and now Program Leader for Persistent Identifier Communities for Lyrasis. ORCID plays a key role in enabling researchers to efficiently share their research works throughout the scholarly communication ecosystem. In 2018 the U.S. Community came under the administration of Lyrasis when the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the Greater Western Library Alliance and the NorthEast Research Libraries merged with Lyrasis to form a stronger organization to advance the adoption of ORCID and provide a community of practice. The ORCID US Consortium is now one of 26 consortium worldwide. They provide ORCID related webinars, showcases of integrations and best practices, member support and community resources. They also offer a “ORCID Workshop for Researchers.” 

From the perspective of this member library, the community has been a very important resource. Sheila named challenges that we as a university face as well: individual researchers not using their ORCID iD and ORCID record, and lack of ORCID API integration in the many software systems being used in the research ecosystem. The outlook for ORCID adoption and use by individual researchers and U.S. institutions is more promising as the NSPM-33 (National Security Presidential Memorandum 33) and the recent White House Office of Science and Technology Policy OSTP memo are implemented. Persistent identifiers, including ORCID, are key elements of FAIR research information exchange which benefit scientific communities around the world.

Visit the UMass Amherst Libraries ORCID guide for more information about getting and using an ORCID ID, and contact us with any questions.

How to address the “diversity tax” in scholarly publishing

The Scholarly Kitchen published a series of 4 guest posts last August (2022) on “Reducing the Burden of Diversity Tax” written by people who work for 3 different scholarly publishers. They write from their own experiences and from that of an anonymous contributor to help us understand what a diversity tax is and how it impacts underrepresented minorities; how affected individuals can alleviate its impacts; what allies can do; and what organizations can do. Comments and responses to the posts further illustrate the experiences of underrepresented people and the issues they face. Each post is of modest length and offers specific recommendations for the different parties.

The concept of a diversity tax is introduced through a series of examples of how peoples’ strengths, expertise and skills – such as popular event planning, cooking for a social gathering, leading an outdoor adventure – become burdens by the very nature of their success. Those who have special contributions to make in particular areas are repeatedly asked to do so, and even if they are passionate about the work, it comes at personal cost, a kind of tax. This can be translated to people from underrepresented groups who are regularly asked to participate in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) projects because of an identity, without rightful recognition of or reward for their skills or their time.

In the second post, the authors discuss tactics individuals can use to mitigate these burdens. These include choosing only to accept assignments that align with their career goals and leveraging those opportunities, advocating for formal recognition of their contributions, setting boundaries and seeking the support of others. Allies can educate themselves about DEIA issues and experiences (without necessarily asking DEIA individuals to be the educators), acknowledge their privilege, be intentional about who they are including and why, ensure colleagues are properly acknowledged and rewarded, and make spaces safe for candid discussions about the experiences of underrepresented individuals. The recommendations for organizations were particularly strong and detailed, from rewards and compensation, quantifiable metrics, sustainable staffing infrastructure to policies and workplace support for marginalized communities. The series covered real experiences and actionable responses from many stakeholders in publishing and other organizations. It emphasized listening and acting in ways to include, recognize and reward individuals from marginalized communities for their invaluable skills, experiences and expertise.