All 17 U.S. national laboratories, including NETL, and many prominent publishers of scientific journals announced today (Wednesday, July 28, 2021) the beginning of a partnership to support name-change requests from researchers on their previously published papers.

The purpose of the agreement is to establish a mechanism that ensures researchers can own their academic work under their chosen name and provides institutional support to correct bylines on their past publications.

The participating national laboratories will facilitate requests for name changes for any reason, including gender, transgender, religious, marital or other purposes, where supported by the policies in place at the publishing partners.

“At NETL, we strive daily to foster a workplace environment that recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion for all. This agreement is another step forward to achieve and maintain a culture where all researchers are valued as they pioneer and drive solutions to our nation’s energy challenges,” NETL Director Brian Anderson, Ph.D., said.

Previously, individual researchers shouldered the burden of initiating name-change requests with each publisher of their past papers. Many publishers have been independently updating their own policies to address an increasing number of name-change requests.

The partnership will streamline these ad hoc processes and offer an official validation mechanism to all involved by enabling researchers to ask their respective institutions to pursue name changes on their behalf directly with the publishers and journals.

For researchers of all genders, the new process ensures they can rightfully claim ownership of prior work without fear of reprisal under their lived name and be known in their respective fields primarily through their merits as published authors.

As several researchers have attested, having their names updated on previous publications allows them to best represent their full suite of accomplishments. The ability to claim the cumulative volume of their work over time has significant implications for maintaining prominence in their area of research and for receiving credit for their academic impact.

The partnership between the national laboratories, major scientific publishers, journals and other organizations represents a commitment to creating a more inclusive culture in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and STEM publishing in particular.

The 17 national laboratories are pursuing this work in alignment with their respective diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and welcome new partners as the effort advances. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is coordinating the effort.

LIST OF PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By leveraging its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.