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Racial and ethnic imbalance in neuroscience reference lists and intersections with gender

Maxwell A. Bertolero, Jordan D. Dworkin, Sophia U. David, Claudia López Lloreda, Pragya Srivastava, Jennifer Stiso, Dale Zhou, Kafui Dzirasa, Damien A. Fair, Antonia N. Kaczkurkin, Bianca Jones Marlin, Daphna Shohamy, Lucina Q. Uddin, Perry Zurn, Danielle S. Bassett
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.12.336230
Maxwell A. Bertolero
1Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Jordan D. Dworkin
2Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY USA
3New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY USA
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Sophia U. David
1Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Claudia López Lloreda
4Neuroscience Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Pragya Srivastava
1Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Jennifer Stiso
1Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Dale Zhou
1Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Kafui Dzirasa
5Department of Psychiatry, Duke University, Durham, NC USA
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Damien A. Fair
6Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA
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Antonia N. Kaczkurkin
7Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA
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Bianca Jones Marlin
8Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
9Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
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Daphna Shohamy
9Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
10Zuckerman Mind, Brain, Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
11Kavli Center for Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
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Lucina Q. Uddin
12Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL USA
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Perry Zurn
13Department of Philosophy and Religion, American University, Washington DC, USA
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Danielle S. Bassett
1Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
14Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
15Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
16Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
17Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
18Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
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  • For correspondence: dsb@seas.upenn.edu
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Abstract

Discrimination against racial and ethnic minority groups exists in the academy, and the associated biases impact hiring and promotion, publication rates, grant funding, and awards. Precisely how racial and ethnic bias impacts the manner in which the scientific community engages with the ideas of academics in minority groups has yet to be fully elucidated. Citations are a marker of such community engagement, as well as a currency used to attain career milestones. Here we assess the extent and drivers of racial and ethnic imbalance in the reference lists of papers published in five top neuroscience journals over the last 25 years. We find that reference lists tend to include more papers with a White person as first and last author than would be expected if race and ethnicity were unrelated to referencing. We show that this imbalance is driven largely by the citation practices of White authors, and is increasing over time even as the field diversifies. To further explain our findings, we examine co-authorship networks and find that while the network has become markedly more integrated in general, the current degree of segregation by race/ethnicity is greater now than it has been in the past. Citing further from oneself on the network is associated with greater balance, but White authors’ preferential citation of White authors remains even at high levels of network exploration. We also quantify the effects of intersecting identities, determining the relative costs of gender and race/ethnicity, and their combination in women of color. Our findings represent a call to scientists and journal editors of all disciplines to consider the ethics of citation practices, and actions to be taken in support of an equitable future.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted October 12, 2020.
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Racial and ethnic imbalance in neuroscience reference lists and intersections with gender
Maxwell A. Bertolero, Jordan D. Dworkin, Sophia U. David, Claudia López Lloreda, Pragya Srivastava, Jennifer Stiso, Dale Zhou, Kafui Dzirasa, Damien A. Fair, Antonia N. Kaczkurkin, Bianca Jones Marlin, Daphna Shohamy, Lucina Q. Uddin, Perry Zurn, Danielle S. Bassett
bioRxiv 2020.10.12.336230; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.12.336230
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Racial and ethnic imbalance in neuroscience reference lists and intersections with gender
Maxwell A. Bertolero, Jordan D. Dworkin, Sophia U. David, Claudia López Lloreda, Pragya Srivastava, Jennifer Stiso, Dale Zhou, Kafui Dzirasa, Damien A. Fair, Antonia N. Kaczkurkin, Bianca Jones Marlin, Daphna Shohamy, Lucina Q. Uddin, Perry Zurn, Danielle S. Bassett
bioRxiv 2020.10.12.336230; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.12.336230

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