The Second International Congress of Scientific Journals (November 25–27) gathered global experts to discuss the future of academic publishing ecosystems, Open Science, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Hosted by the Catholic University of Maule, the event served as a critical forum for analyzing the evolving challenges in scientific metrics and publishing policies.
Representing the University of Santiago, Chile (Usach), the Dicyt (Office for Scientific and Technological Research) editorial team played a leading role in shaping the conversation around editorial equity.
Analysis of the Publishing Ecosystem
During the academic block on November 26, the editorial team's advisor, Carla Rivera Aravena, and data analyst, Francisca Gómez Chacón, jointly presented the paper “Towards an intersectional scientific edition: diagnosis and proposals for Chilean academic journals.” The research behind this presentation was developed collaboratively by both team members, who participated in both its preparation and presentation.
The study analyzed more than 270 Chilean journals published between 2023 and 2025, considering variables such as the presence of women in editorial positions and authorship, territorial and disciplinary distribution, and correlations between equity and scientific productivity.
The results, which revealed deep gender gaps, included that only 28.9% of editorial positions are held by women; female first authorship barely reaches 22.6%; marked territorial and knowledge area gaps persist, affecting the visibility of underrepresented groups; and, finally, a positive correlation was identified between greater female participation in editorial committees and higher journal productivity.
Based on this diagnosis, the team proposed institutional parity goals for 2030, mechanisms for monitoring gender in scientific publishing, and concrete actions to accelerate progress in structural equity.
Compromiso Usach
Regarding the University's participation in the meeting, Carla Rivera highlighted that this event “made visible the University of Santiago's commitment to the principles of equity, quality, and open science, strengthening inter-institutional collaboration networks and positioning the Unit's work as a benchmark in the analysis of editorial practices with a focus on gender and intersectionality.”
She also stressed that “scientific publishing must not only guarantee academic quality, but also epistemic justice. This conference has been a crucial space for advancing in that direction.”
The complete presentation material is available in open access through the Zenodo research data repository.