Updated Guidance on the Reporting of Race and Ethnicity in Medical and Science Journals.

By A. Flanagin, Tracy Frey, S. Christiansen. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 2021

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The goal of this guidance is to provide recommendations and suggestions that encourage fairness, equity, consistency, and clarity in use and reporting of race and ethnicity in medical and science journals. As previously summarized, “terminology, usage, and word choice are critically important, especially when describing people and when discussing race and ethnicity. Inclusive language supports diversity and conveys respect. Language that imparts bias toward or against persons or groups based on characteristics or demographics must be avoided.”1 With the publication of an earlier version of this guidance,1 comments were invited, and helpful assessments and comments were received from numerous reviewers, scholars, and researchers, who provided valuable feedback and represented diverse expertise and opinions. After thorough review of these comments (some of which did not agree with others) and additional research and discussion, the guidance was revised and updated, and additional formal review was obtained. In this Editorial, we present the updated guidance, and we sincerely thank the many reviewers for their contributions, each of whom are listed in the Acknowledgment at the end of this article. This guidance continues to acknowledge that race and ethnicity are social constructs as well as the important sensitivities and controversies related to use of these terms and associated nomenclature in medical and health research, education, and practice. Thus, for content published in medical journals, language and terminology must be accurate, clear, and precise, and must reflect fairness, equity, and consistency in use and reporting of race and ethnicity. The guidance also acknowledges that the reporting of race and ethnicity should not be considered in isolation and should be accompanied by reporting of other sociodemographic factors and social determinants, including concerns about racism, disparities, and inequities, and the intersectionality of race and ethnicity with these other factors. The guidance defines commonly used terms associated with race and ethnicity and acknowledges that these terms and definitions have changed, that some are out of date, and that the nomenclature will continue to evolve. Other topics addressed include relevant concerns and controversies in health care and research, including the intersectionality of ancestry and heritage, social determinants of health, and other socioeconomic, structural, institutional, cultural, and demographic factors; reporting of race and ethnicity in research articles; use of racial and ethnic collective or umbrella terms, capitalization, and abbreviations; listing racial and ethnic categories in alphabetical order vs order by majority; adjectival vs noun usage for categories of race and ethnicity; geographic origin and regionalization considerations; and brief guidance for journals and publishers that collect demographic data on editors, authors, and peer reviewers. Examples are provided to help guide authors and editors. This updated guidance on reporting race and ethnicity is being added to the Inclusive Language section of the AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors as subsection 11.2.3, Race and Ethnicity (see below).2 This section of the Correct and Preferred Usage chapter of the style manual also includes subsections that address reporting concerns and preferred nomenclature for sex and gender, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, and persons with diseases, disorders, or disabilities. Each of these subsections also will be reviewed and updated. With this publication, this guidance will be freely available on the JAMA website and in the AMA Manual of Style,2 and linked from the JAMA Network journals’ Instructions for Authors. Others are welcome to use and cite this guidance. This guidance is not intended to be final but is presented with the understanding that monitoring will continue, and further updates will be provided as needed. Continual review of the terms and language used in the reporting of race and ethnicity is critically important as societal norms continue to evolve.

Subfields: Gender Studies, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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