Gatekeeping and DEIA

Taking Action to Interrupt Racism in the Scholarly Publishing Industry (C4DISC) Alejandra Mejía, Assistant Acquisitions Editor, Duke University Press Martha A. Anderson, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Head of Digital Services, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Libraries

Ethical Mentorship: Bringing Early-Career to the Table (Paths in Publishing) Rachael Levay, Editor-in-Chief, University Press of Colorado Allegra Martschenko, Acquisitions Editor, University Press of Colorado Brian Halley, Executive Editor, University of Massachusetts Press

Taking Action to Interrupt Racism in the Scholarly Publishing Industry (C4DISC)

Alejandra Mejía, Assistant Acquisitions Editor, Duke University Press

Martha A. Anderson, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Head of Digital Services, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Libraries

Navigating academic publishing as a racialized person, be it Black, Indigenous, or from another racialized group, can be a very challenging experience. In 2018 the Scholarly Kitchen published a series of articles that showcased brave, personal testimonies from Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) across different organizations. The Toolkits for Equity project emerged as one such mechanism to work toward a more equitable, affirming, and just industry. In the larger scope of an increasingly unequal world where racialized people suffer in many different ways, this particular toolkit, the Antiracism Toolkit for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), is a small yet specific contribution, and one that we hope will be meaningful and useful to BIPOC-identifying individuals navigating an industry that can be wonderful, but also hostile. In this panel we would like to share our experiences in creating, writing, and editing this toolkit, as well as how we intend for it to be used by our colleagues in scholarly publishing. We discuss the hindrances to understanding and having access to the industry, tools for creating community for BIPOC people beyond our individual workplaces, strategies for practicing self-care, and even practical advice for when to consider leaving your job or the industry altogether.

Martha Anderson is the current Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Head of Digital Services at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Libraries. Her professional and research interests include DEI, developing cohesive organizational cultures, digitization, and digital preservation. She is a former ACE (Academic and Cultural Enrichment) Scholar at UNC-Greensboro, 2009-2011, Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the UNCG-LIS department, and a former fellow in the 2020-2022 Association of Research Libraries Leadership and Career Development Program.

Alejandra Mejía is an Assistant Editor at Duke University Press where she acquires books in Latinx history and manages the Book Acquisitions student worker program. She has been involved in various Equity and Inclusion initiatives in academic publishing, including as a contributing writer for the Antiracism Toolkit for Allies and as the co-lead of the Antiracism Toolkit for BIPOC, both hosted by the Coalition for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC). She is also Chief Editor and contributing writer for Migrant Roots Media, an independent media platform that seeks to unearth the root causes of global migration.

Ethical Mentorship: Bringing Early-Career to the Table (Paths in Publishing)

Rachael Levay, Editor-in-Chief, University Press of Colorado

Allegra Martschenko, Acquisitions Editor, University Press of Colorado

Brian Halley, Executive Editor, University of Massachusetts Press

As scholarly publishing further develops its investment in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ), we broadly understand that a major challenge is an ongoing and persistent need to retain staff beyond entry-level positions. Mentorship is a crucial method of retention and advancement at all levels, but for many early-career folks in scholarly publishing, finding and developing a relationship with a mentor can be a challenge–and if one’s mentor is their supervisor, it can be even harder to get support when considering a job move. Paths in Publishing, a new free mentorship program, shares ways for those in early career positions (applying into or out of entry level work) to get feedback on cover letters, resumes, and interviewing but also engage with the ideas that are central to landing a job in this field: understanding terminology, navigating and negotiating pay, and exploring conceptual ideas about scholarly publishing via reading groups and webinars. More pressingly, too, we see the need for a larger conversation about what it means to create space for meaningful relationships across scholarly publishing that can support the challenging, unequal, and sometimes discriminatory obstacles faced by early-career workers, especially those who are BIPOC/LGTBQ/disabled. The panelists will share their experiences as mentees and mentors, as those who have applied to jobs and also hired for positions, and share ways to demonstrate a commitment to ethical workplace relationships both within their own workplaces and beyond.

Rachael Levay (she/her) is a PIP cofounder, Editor-in-Chief at the University Press of Colorado, and acquires for the Utah State University Press imprint. She’s been an acquisitions editor for nearly five years and was the Marketing and Sales Director at the University of Washington Press for 11 years. She is currently a member of the Association of University Presses Board of Directors and, with experience mentoring several generations of incredible university press staff, is interested in finding new ways to create equitable opportunities in scholarly publishing.

Allegra Martschenko (she/they) is a PIP cofounder and an acquisitions editor at the University Press of Colorado, acquiring in anthropology, archeology, and environmental justice for the Colorado imprint. They started in publishing as a Sales intern at Princeton University Press, did a brief stint in children’s trade publishing, and spent a year at Cornell University Press as a 2020-2021 Mellon Diversity Fellow before joining UPC in 2021. As a fiction writer they’ve mentored several marginalized authors through the trade publishing industry and now turn their attention to helping foster equity and inclusion in scholarly publishing.

Brian Halley (he/him) started his career assisting literary agent Rachel Calder of the Sayle Agency in London before working his way up to Editor at Beacon Press. He is now Executive Editor at the University of Massachusetts Press, where he has worked since 2009. He has served on the Association of University Presses Board of Directors and currently serves on the AUP Equity, Justice, and Inclusion Committee, which he previously co-chaired. He is based in Boston.