Home » Resources » Resources for Inclusive and Equitable Research

Resources for Inclusive and Equitable Research

APA Bias-Free Language
The American Psychological Association emphasizes the need to talk about all people with inclusivity and respect. These guidelines for bias-free language contain both general guidelines for writing about people without bias across a range of topics and specific guidelines that address the individual characteristics of age, disability, gender, participation in research, racial and ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. These guidelines and recommendations were crafted by panels of experts on APA’s bias-free language committees. 

Citations: Gender Balance Assessment Tool (GBAT)
Women are cited less often than men, and are also underrepresented in syllabi. Yet even well-meaning scholars may find that they have difficulty assessing how gender-balanced their bibliographies and syllabi really are. Counting is tedious and prone to human error, and scholars may not know the gender identities of all the authors they cite. This tool aims to help with that, by automating the process of evaluating the (probabilistic) gender of each name and then providing an estimate of what percentage of the authors on a syllabus are women. This tool also has a race option, although it acknowledges its lack in accuracy. 

Racial Equity Tools
Racial Equity Tools is designed to support individuals and groups working to achieve racial equity. This site offers tools, data collection methods, research, tips, curricula and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working toward justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large

What is Inclusive Research?
This book by Melanie Nind describes and defines inclusive research, outlining how to recognize it, understand it, do it, and know when it is done well. In doing so it will address the areas of overlap and distinctiveness in relation to participatory, emancipatory, user-led and partnership research as well as exploring the various practices encompassed within each of these inclusive approaches.

The book will focus on how and why more inclusive approaches to research have evolved. It will position inclusive research within the key debates and shifts in policy, define key ideas and terms, discuss the contested nature of inclusive research and illustrate a range of approaches using exemplars. The aim is to discuss the range of challenges involved and to examine the degree to which these challenges have so far been met.

Conscious Style Guide
The first website devoted to conscious language. Our mission is to help writers and editors think critically about using language—including words, portrayals, framing, and representation—to empower instead of limit. In one place, you can access style guides covering terminology for various communities and find links to key articles debating usage. We study words so that they can become tools instead of unwitting weapons.

Project Implicit
Project Implicit is a non-profit organization and international collaborative network of researchers investigating implicit social cognition - thoughts and feelings that are largely outside of conscious awareness and control. Project Implicit is the product of a team of scientists whose research produced new ways of understanding attitudes, stereotypes and other hidden biases that influence perception, judgment, and action.

Project Implicit translates that academic research into practical applications for addressing diversity, improving decision-making, and increasing the likelihood that practices are aligned with personal and organizational values.

Intersectionality-informed Quantitative Research: A Primer 
This publication by Setareh Rouhani illustrates the possibilities and challenges of intersectionality-informed quantitative research and the potential to transform traditional quantitative research methods in ways that more effectively capture social and health inequities. 

How to Embed a Racial and Ethnic Equity Perspective in Research 
A step by step guide to incorporate equity principles in social science research and to understand how race and ethnicity contribute to disparate results.

NAS Resources on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Research in social science, medicine, and other fields can shed light on the factors that drive systemic racial inequalities -- not only in society at large, but also within the sciences, engineering, and medicine -- with the goal of finding solutions based on evidence. A range of studies, webinars, and other activies at the National Academies have explored this research some of which is highlighted here.

Resource for Mitigating Peer Review Bias
University of Michigan has launched a new resource for managing internal nomination and peer review processes to reduce bias. This valuable guide is for anyone who coordinates funding programs, develops CFPs, participates on review panels, or undertakes any number of related activities.

The American Folklife Center: Cultural Documentation Methods, Techniques and Guidelines
Several teaching and training guidelines have been developed by AFC staff and colleagues in other institutions and disciplines. These documents include how-to guides and links to web sites that provide practical advice and insights into the process of conducting a local-level documentation project. Indigenous groups and other cultural cultural communities are increasingly employing these tools as a means of maintaining, preserving and protecting their intangible cultural heritage and intellectual property from appropriation and misuse.

Sunnybrook Research Institute EDI resources
Guidelines and procedures related to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at Sunnybrook Research Institute are informed by EDI resources provided by the tri-council agencies: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). 

Best Practices in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research
This guide helps support New Frontiers and Research Fund (NFRF) applicants and reviewers, and the research community, in achieving greater equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in their research.

Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples
Seminal text by Linda Tuwahi Smith in indigenous studies that explores the intersections of colonialism and research methodologies.

Social Change Ecosystem
This is a framework designed by Deepa Iyer that can help individuals, networks, and organizations align and get in right relationship with social change values, individual roles, and the broader ecosystem. Iyer has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland (where she was an Activist-in-Residence in 2015).

About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the NY Times 
by Peter Catapano (editor) and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (editor)
Based on the pioneering New York Times series, About Us collects the personal essays and reflections that have transformed the national conversation around disability.

MIT’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Basic research in the humanities, arts, and social science fields is the engine for the School's capacity to effect positive change around the globe. The School is home to research that has a global impact, and to graduate programs recognized as among the finest in the world. 

  • Impact: Making a Better World
  • Making a Just Society
  • Research + Perspectives for the Pandemic

Academics for Black Survival and Wellness
Academics for Black Survival and Wellness (A4BL) is a personal and professional development initiative for Non-Black academics to honor the toll of racial trauma on Black people, resist anti-Blackness and white supremacy, and facilitate accountability and collective action. A4BL also is a space for healing and wellness for Black people. Includes collaboration from Carlton E. Green, Director of Diversity Training & Education, Office of Diversity & Inclusion, University of Maryland, College Park.

Research Methods for Social Justice and Equity in Education
This textbook edited by Kamden K. Strunk and Leslie Ann Locke presents an integrative approach to thinking about research methods for social justice. In today's education landscape, there is a growing interest in scholar-activism and ways of doing research that advances educational equity. This text provides a foundational overview of important theoretical and philosophical issues specific to this kind of work in Section I. In Section II, readers engage with various ways of thinking about, collecting and analyzing data, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Finally, in Section III, through case studies and research narratives, readers will learn about real scholars and their work. This book takes a wide-ranging approach to ways that various modalities and practices of research can contribute to an equity mission.

Research Methods for Social Justice and Equity in Education
This book by Liz Atkins, Vicky Duckworth offers researchers a full understanding of very important concepts, showing how they can be used a means to develop practical strategies for undertaking research that makes a difference to the lives of marginalised and disadvantaged learners. It explores different conceptualisations of social justice and equity, and leads the reader through a discussion of what their implications are for undertaking educational research that is both moral and ethical and how it can be enacted in the context of their chosen research method and a variety of others, both well-known and more innovative.

Everyday Tips for Equity-Minded Scholars
Strengthening your equity, diversity and inclusion skills as a scholar, thought leader and mentor will build a foundation for your professional growth, writes Nana Lee.

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity
NCFDD provides on-demand access to the mentoring, tools, and support needed to be successful in the Academy. We focus on four key areas that help achieve extraordinary writing and research productivity while maintaining a full and healthy life off campus: strategic planning, explosive productivity, healthy relationships, and work-life balance.