Biology Professor, Maurine Neiman, Senior Editor at Proceedings B, is co-editor of a Special Feature focused on research by scientists in underrepresented countries and regions, called “the other 1%.”

A key point of discussion at the 2024 Proceedings B annual Editorial Board meeting was that their paper submissions typically come from the same subset of countries. Only 11 countries represent 77% of Proceedings B corresponding submitting authors with the remaining 23% submitted by authors from countries that each submit 1% or fewer of the papers Proceedings B receives each year. 

During a break-out session at the board meeting, the idea for a special feature focused on research by scientists in underrepresented countries and regions was developed. These are researchers who may face barriers in scientific publication simply because of where they live. While this set of countries and regions, what Proceedings B called ‘the other 1%’, does include high-income countries that are underrepresented in submissions owing to their small size (e.g. The Netherlands, Belgium or Denmark), most are located in what is often called the ‘Global South’. Researchers in these areas are doing important, high-quality work, but can face challenges unrelated to the quality of their science when it comes to publishing in international journals. These challenges range from fewer resources, to less experience with these journals, to research topics or use of methodologies that are less common outside their geographical area. The latter issue means that the impact and broad importance of this work may be underestimated by reviewers and editors. Indigenous researchers, and especially those whose work focuses on topics specific to their area, may face similar barriers. For these reasons, Proceedings B focused on amplifying work from these groups in this Special Feature. 

Proceedings B is the Royal Society’s flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the fast publication and worldwide dissemination of high-quality research. The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world’s most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.