Themes and Topics on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in JMIR Dermatology Publications

Abstract

Publications dealing with topics considered to be pertinent to diversity, equity, and inclusion are increasing. Due to the increasing trend, dermatology journals have started to implement ways to evaluate and understand these publications. Here, we discuss a keyword approach to identify and then categorize these publications. Keywords identified 43 manuscripts. Two reviewers screened the articles’ titles and abstracts, and recommended a full manuscript review for 24 publications. Through the scope of definitions from the National Institutes of Health, an editorial board member performed a full-text review and assigned a primary theme to the publications. Themes included equity (n=20) and diversity/inclusion (n=4). Topics were racial/ethnic differences in care delivery or society (n=17), incomplete understanding of gender and sex (n=3), gender identity (n=2), socioeconomic class and its impact on health (n=1), care for rural underserved communities (n=1), and religion (n=1). The results of this review demonstrate a predominance of equity-related publications, particularly emphasizing racial/ethnic differences in health care delivery, in the publications identified in JMIR Dermatology. Future research can focus on creating a review aid to assist editorial board members when providing feedback to manuscripts, refining the keywords, and using thematic analysis methodology to evaluate large sets of publications.