Inclusivity in Publishing

Dr Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra and Dr Sabrina Germain discuss the injustices, barriers, and challenges faced by minoritised academics in the publishing world, and the changes needed. Recorded on 6 June 2023. In this episode, we speak with Dr Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra and Dr Sabrina Germain about structural inequities in academic publishing, asking who gets to produce and share knowledge, and what systemic barriers shape the field. Agomoni is a senior lecturer in Bioethics and Global Health Ethics and Deputy Director of the Mason Institute at the University of Edinburgh, whose work addresses power, exploitation, justice, and vulnerability in global health. Sabrina is a Reader in Healthcare Law and Policy at the City University of London, with a focus on distributive justice and the role of medical professionals in shaping healthcare policy. Together, they examine how geographic, linguistic, and institutional biases in publishing perpetuate colonial and elitist hierarchies of knowledge, often excluding scholars from the Global South and marginalised communities. From discriminatory peer review comments to the privileging of Western collaborations, we explore how these practices limit both who gets published and what counts as “valuable” research. This conversation highlights the urgent need for reform in academic publishing—toward more inclusive, representative, and equitable systems of knowledge production that reflect a truly global and justice-oriented scholarly community. Related podcast: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-c39ry-15c51a0

Om Podcasten

The Power and Privilege in Academia podcast series is organised by the Black and Brown in Bioethics (BBB) organisation, which aims to achieve racial equity within the UK bioethics community. The series is supported by the Ethox Centre (University of Oxford) and funded by the University of Bristol and Research England. The series explores the intersecting dynamics of power and privilege in academic spaces, and engages with a wide spectrum of related themes including anti-racism, disrupting hierarchies, inclusivity in publishing, representation and research culture, gaps within public and community engagement, and the role of legacies, narratives, and identities in shaping academic belonging. Each episode is hosted by one of the BBB co-founders, Harleen Kaur Johal, Matimba Swana, or Kumeri Bandara, and features conversations with one to three academics working on different forms of social justice. Through these dialogues, the series seeks not only to illuminate entrenched structures of power and privilege, but also to imagine more inclusive and equitable futures within academia. The series was produced and audio engineered by Faiq Habash, with original music by Qasim Ashraf (kxtone), and business administration by Nicholas Pitt.