Demographic data FAQs

In line with Taking Action on Diversity, our ScholarOne sites include demographic questions that users may complete. This page provides relevant information about these questions including details on consent, data protection, and updating data.

Why am I being asked these questions?  

Collecting your responses to these questions will allow Sage to understand the demographic diversity for particular journals and fields to inform actions that support progress on our DEI aims.  

The questions directly correspond with Sage's DEI pledges to (a) amplify diverse voices, (b) support increased representation, (c) increase visibility and impact of research, (d) educate ourselves, our editors and our societies, (e) ensure research is widely accessible, (f) encourage diverse and equitable language and referencing, and (g) promote anti-racism and anti-discrimination. 

For transparency on data protection and privacy: Your data will be saved privately and securely by ScholarOne. Although your responses are captured in Sage Track, this demographic data is stored separately and is not visible to any users in this system other than as de-identified, aggregated data. The data will not be used in the peer review process and will not be used for any discriminatory purpose.

How were these questions developed?  

ScholarOne’s demographic questions related to gender, race, and ethnicity are based on the recommendations from the Joint Commitment for Action on Inclusion and Diversity in Publishing, which is comprised of many organizations working in academic publishing. The diversity data collection initiative developed a framework for collecting gender identity, race and ethnicity, which were endorsed in April 2022. Sage has agreed to work with the other publishers and scholarly societies to use these standardized questions. We support the Joint Commitment’s intent to seek a baseline of common information on diversity across academic publishing to help understand the context for particular journals and fields.   

Why does this include a question about gender identity instead of sex?  

For the purposes of supporting gender diversity and inclusion, asking about gender identity enables respondents to self-identify across a spectrum of gender identities, whereas sex would only tell us if ‘male’ or ‘female’ was assigned to the respondent at the time of their birth. Since gender identity stems from one’s internal sense of self, and this does not always align for sex, gender identity is a more reliable construct for this survey.   

Why are there separate questions that differentiate between ethnicity and race?  

Although concepts of ethnicity and race are sometimes used interchangeably, we acknowledge that “the emerging consensus is that differentiating ethnicity from race and nationality is important for accurate operationalization… [and that,] confounding ethnicity with race serves to obscure the power and privilege that is associated with race, thereby maintaining bias” (APA, 2019, 46).  

We find it helpful to differentiate between ethnicity and race according to the following APA definitions:  

Ethnicity: a characterization of people based on having a shared culture (e.g., language, food, music, dress, values, and beliefs) related to common ancestry and shared history.  

Race: the social construction and categorization of people based on perceived shared physical traits that result in the maintenance of a sociopolitical hierarchy.  

Are responses to these questions anonymized?  

Responses are anonymized and data will only be analyzed and reported in aggregate by journal.  

How will this data be reported?  

Only aggregate data will be reported. Reporting will be provided to journal teams and internal staff at Sage. 

How is response data stored and protected?  

Individual self-reported diversity data cannot be seen, accessed, or used by anyone within the journal editorial staff or at Sage. DEI data is stored in a separate database from the rest of ScholarOne data with access controls in place to restrict access to only specific Clarivate staff. No personally identifiable information related to the user is being held in this database table. 

Can I change my past responses?  

You control your data and can change your response at any time. To do this, you may visit the ‘Edit My Account’ page in ScholarOne to overwrite your previous answers. 

How will you use my data?  

We will use self-reported data to inform diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for our journals. Since the survey data will only be analyzed in aggregate, your data will never be used in relation to you individually.

Will you sell my data?  

Sage will not sell your demographic data to anyone.  

Do I have to answer these questions?  

Self-reporting for these questions is entirely optional and voluntary. If you ever wish to withdraw your consent you can do so by editing your response in your account in ScholarOne.  

When will I see the questions? 

The first time you log into a journal on ScholarOne, you will be invited to update your account and self-report your diversity data. If you provide your consent for the collection of this data, the questions around gender identity, ethnic origins, and then race will automatically appear. If you do not wish to share your diversity data, you may indicate that you do not consent to sharing this data and finish the account updating process.

Why am I being asked to answer the questions for each journal? 

Each journal has its own ScholarOne site. We understand that answering the questions for each journal you interact with can be frustrating and are working with Clarivate to determine how different ScholarOne sites can ultimately connect to make self-reporting your diversity data less burdensome. 

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