Should scientists include their race, gender, or other personal details in papers?

When Genevieve Wojcik’s co-authors suggested she include details about her race and family background in a May Nature Genetics commentary, she was skeptical. As a genetic epidemiologist, she had always been taught “to take yourself out of the equation completely,” says Wojcik, who is at Johns Hopkins University. But Wojcik’s colleagues argued that their paper, about the need for multiracial participants in genetics studies , should include a “positionality statement” from each author describing how their identity might influence their work. The practice is becoming increasingly common in scientific papers, to applause from some researchers and chagrin from others. The statements, which can encompass anything an author deems relevant—for example, race, ethnicity, geographic location, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and career level—are already established practice in many social sciences, such as sociology and anthropology. Now, they are making inroads into other fields, such as biology, global health, and medicine, as well as STEM education, with more journals encouraging or even requiring them. “It’s an invitation to think more broadly about what your role as a researcher is in the work that you’re trying to understand,” says Alejandra Núñez-de la Mora, a biological anthropologist at the University of Veracruz. She published a 2021 paper in the American Journal of Human Biology ...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research