Dear authors,

We invite you to spread the word about your recent publication in Just. Journal of Language Rights & Minorities, Revista de Drets Lingüístics i Minories and engage with the academic community by sharing your article on social media platforms.

This webpage provides guidance on how to effectively promote your work and increase its visibility. For questions or assistance, or to share your ideas on how to improve these tips, please contact Esther Monzó-Nebot at monzo [at] uji.es.

Why Share Your Publications?

• [ ] Increase visibility and reach within the academic community.
• [ ] Foster discussion and collaboration opportunities.
• [ ] Amplify the impact of your research.

How to Share Your Recent Article in Just?

• Identify specific insights of your research and craft engaging posts to share in social media platforms.
• Relevant social media platforms include ResearchGate, Orcid, Twitter (now X), Kudos, and Academia.edu.
• Include visuals such as the journal cover or figures to attract attention.
• Utilize relevant hashtags to connect with interested audiences (e.g., #LanguageRightsMinorities).
• Engage with comments and inquiries to cultivate relationships with peers.
• See example posts below.

Countering Gender Bias in Research Dissemination

<aside> <img src="/icons/map-pin_pink.svg" alt="/icons/map-pin_pink.svg" width="40px" /> The Matilda effect refers to the systematic under-recognition and undervaluation of the contributions of women scientists in academia and research. Named after suffragist and abolitionist Matilda Joslyn Gage, who first described it in the late 19th century, this phenomenon highlights the tendency for women's achievements to be attributed to male colleagues or overlooked entirely, leading to disparities in recognition, funding, and career advancement.

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Among other gender issues, women find a classic catch-22 when advocating for themselves. They are seen as challenging their socially lower status and subservient role when they self-promote, but are overlooked if they don’t, which compounds a situation where they are disadvantaged in citation patterns. The unwritten rules of engagement place women scholars between a rock and a hard place.

By the same token, female scholars have fewer followers, "likes," and retweets in social media compared to their male counterparts. As a result, posts by women may not be as impactful as those posted by men. Additionally, women face rude and violent responses in their social media interactions disproportionately more often than men.

Just encourages both male and female authors to engage in promoting articles authored by (other) women. If you receive any biased comment or would like assistance in promoting your research, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can, for instance, tag Just members so that they can amplify your posts. Journal members will further post about every single article published, which you can repost.

Additionally, consider the following strategies:

1. Use assertive language. Although cultural and social differences apply, women are socialized to show doubts about their own value. Reflecting doubts in the language used works as a socialized protection against challenges that reposition women in socially acceptable roles (such as attending to other people’s needs, rather than their own, or being less agentic, competent, and worthy). Although it may work as a protection, it detracts from the value afforded to your own research and its goals. Present your research confidently and assertively, recognizing your own value and expertise.
2. Leverage academic networks. Seek out professional and academic organizations that can circulate the news about your publications. Disseminate the work of those associations, especially those that actively promote gender equality.
3. Address biases. Call out and address gender bias or discrimination encountered in research promotion efforts by (other) women.
4. Become an ally. Men can face various discriminatory actions due to their membership in specific marginalized groups. However, when compared to women in the same discriminated groups or even women in non-discriminated groups, individuals, communities, and societies are biased toward granting more authority to men. By amplifying the voices of female researchers in academic discourse and public engagement efforts, men can become allies and ensure women’s perspectives are heard and valued.
5. Mentor female researchers. Women are less likely to receive mentorship and more likely to be assigned academic housework tasks from their superiors and experience harassment. Share your experiences and insights to mentor and support other female researchers, inspiring change and progress. Be mindful of intersectional factors that make your experience different from others, and which may cause strategies to be successful for some but not for all.
6. Support gender equality. Advocate for gender-inclusive practices in academic publishing and promote visibility for women in research. By requesting editors to incorporate full names in their journal’s referencing style (opting for Chicago instead of APA) and to prohibit gender-exclusionary language in their publications, we can all contribute to making gender biases visible as a step toward mitigating them. Social and cultural shifts typically occur at a gradual pace, and facing many challenges; however, gender equality cannot be achieved without continued awareness.
7. Use your own privilege. Privilege is relative and we all may have some in different contexts. Use your own to make room for the experiences of groups traditionally excluded from academia based on a variety of factors, particularly their gender or gender non-conformity, sexual orientation, social class and first-generation status, abilities, language, ethnicity, or race (understood as physical features that groups and cultures consider socially significant). Their experiences have gone mostly unnoticed in academia due to the blinding and silencing effects of cultural beliefs regarding their agency, competency, and worth and the resulting implicit bias. Using your privilege to amplify their voices can make a difference.

Example 📬 Posts

• [ ] Twitter: "Excited to share our latest article on [topic] published in Just. Journal of Language Rights & Minorities! Our research explores [brief description]. #LanguageRightsMinorities #AcademicPublishing #1nt #xl8"

• [ ] LinkedIn: "Proud to announce the publication of our recent article in Just. Journal of Language Rights & Minorities. Join the conversation on [topic] and contribute to advancing language rights. #AcademicResearch #Publication"

• [ ] ResearchGate: Share a brief summary of your article along with the full text for interested researchers to access and engage with.

  ⚠️ When sharing your article in ResearchGate, please be mindful of the following:

  We have identified a recurrent issue when sharing your articles in ResearchGate. Sometimes, the reference list is not processed, which limits the impact of your article, since cited authors are not notified of your research, as they would be otherwise. We have prepared and tested a specific method so that the references can be recognized.

  Upon publication, we will send you the registered copy of your article and a PDF file marked as “to share in ResearchGate.” Please upload this file first. We recommend that you do so as a private file. The references should be identified and listed within seconds. When they are, please share the final version as a public file.

  If ResearchGate finds your publication before and the references are not recognized, you only need to create a new publication with the same title, authors, and journal, and upload our “to share in ResearchGate” PDF as a private file. After some hours, ResearchGate should recognize both entries refer to the same article and merge them.

Journal’s Covers

When posting about your research, you may use these images, screen captures of your abstract in its final layout, or figures included in your article.

Just is committed to promoting gender equality. It publishes a minimum of 40% articles authored by women in each special issue, uses full names in references to make female authorship visible, has no limits to maximum allowable references and excludes references from total word count, maintains diverse referee pools, and does not accept exclusionary language.

Some Useful References

Alcoff, Linda & Elizabeth Potter, eds. 1993. Feminist epistemologies. New York: Routledge.

Boivin, Nicole, Susanne Täuber, Ulrike Beisiegel, Ursula Keller & Janet G. Hering. 2024. “Sexism in academia is bad for science and a waste of public funding.” Nature Reviews 9: 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-023-00624-3.

Brown, Nicole & Jennifer Leigh, eds. 2020. Ableism in academia: Theorising experiences of disabilities and chronic illnesses in higher education. London: UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13xprjr.

Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 1989 (1): 139–167.

Gutiérrez y Muhs, Gabriella, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. González & Angela P. Harris, eds. 2012. Presumed incompetent: The intersections of race and class for women in academia. Boulder: Utah State University Press.

Harding, Sandra, ed. 1983. Discovering reality: Feminist perspectives on epistemology, metaphysics, methodology, and philosophy of science. Cham: Springer.

Hill Collins, Patricia. 1990. Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York, NY: Hyman.