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Tell us about the idea behind this Special Feature and why it came about

At a recent editorial board meeting, a key concern was the imbalance in the geographic representation of our authors. Eleven countries make up 77% of submissions, and these countries are all from the so-called Global North. We know that there are excellent scientists doing outstanding science outside of these eleven countries, so why aren’t we seeing more of it? One obvious answer is that there are extra barriers to publishing in journals like Proceedings B. Accordingly, we came up with the idea of a special feature to showcase science from parts of the world that are underrepresented in Proceedings B. Our goals were that this Special Feature would bring more attention to these scientists and heightened recognition of the excellent science that is taking place in these other parts of the world.

Figure 1: Percentage of total submissions to Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B in 2023. (a) Percentage of total submissions by country. Each country within the ‘Others’ category represents 1% or fewer of the journal´s submissions. (b) Percentage of total submissions from the Global South and Global North (China included in the Global North). In particular, our total number of submissions from the Global South is 8%, yet the percentage of accepted manuscripts from the Global South is only 4%, making it much, much lower compared with the Global North.

What do you think is the most exciting idea discussed in the papers?

One of the most exciting topics to us was the frequent inclusion of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in many of our papers. This is knowledge from local researchers and people who have deeper connections with the local ecosystem that allows them a different perspective on scientific topics. This can additionally include access to cultural perspectives that may fall outside of the range of an ecological perspective but can have a very strong effect on biology in practice. Although incorporating local and/or Indigenous perspectives is typical in some fields (eg Anthropology), it is markedly less common in biology. However, as several of our papers demonstrate, incorporation of these different perspectives can lead to important scientific advances. For instance, one group in Hawai’i studied fishing regulations and management for an economically important fish, the moi, by bringing in the local monitoring network of Indigenous fishers (Peopeo et al, 2025). Another team used a combination of observations and local experts to study the honeyguide/human mutualism in the Kingdom of Eswatini (Nhlabatsi et al, 2025).

How can work in this area bring together researchers from different disciplines and what have been the benefits, if any, of such collaborations?

As described above, the papers in this Special Feature include researchers not only collaborating across disciplines (interdisciplinarity), but also with bearers of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and local stakeholders (transdisciplinarity). Although transdisciplinarity may not yet be familiar to all biologists and can be challenging to conduct well in practice, we hope that highlighting its benefits will increase awareness of the value of such an approach. For example, the hope is that the incorporation of local people and cultural aspects will make conservation efforts more impactful in the long term.

How can research in this area affect your field?

Biodiversity is highest in the Global South, yet most researchers currently working on biodiversity, ecology and conservation are based in the Global North. We believe it is important to hear more voices from the Global South and Indigenous communities who are directly in connection with the local places and practices of where we likely need to focus much of our future conservation efforts.

Did you learn anything new when editing the papers?

We really enjoyed editing these papers! Many were in areas beyond our expertise, which gave us a chance to engage deeply in topics, concepts and methods new to us. This isn’t something we often make the time to do as busy scientists, and it was incredibly rewarding. We have also been reflecting a great deal on the ways in which our own cultures and experiences shape our expectations of what science is and how to do it. For example, in most Western institutions, we are taught to “sell” our work, which is a skill with a specific set of norms that are rarely articulated, but are passed on from person to person. It was eye opening to think about how much science is overlooked because the authors have not been exposed to these unwritten and often arbitrary rules.

How was your experience of being a Guest Editor on Proceedings B?

One of the things we enjoy most about our role as editors is the opportunity to interact with the authors and all the others involved in the editorial process. We found the reviewers and Associate Editors to be enthusiastic about ideas that in some cases were also new to them, and this enthusiasm showed in the constructive and supportive reviews.

An advantage of Proceedings B is the opportunity to pursue a special feature that is based on an important topic rather than a specific research question. For example, in the past some of us were involved in a special issue focused on caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is currently a special feature on the London Zoological Society at 100 years. This provides an opportunity to highlight important topics in ways that isn’t available at many other journals.

We were lucky that the journal has an engaged and enthusiastic editorial board and a supportive Editor-in-Chief, both of which were very helpful to us during the whole process involved with our feature.

What did we learn and how do we use it in the future?

The fact that more than three quarters of the papers come from the same 11 countries is a shocking statistic. In some cases, low country-level contributions are likely a simple function of small size (such as Belgium), but many countries that are not well represented have large populations and many scientists, research universities, and institutions. The reasons for this disparity have been discussed in depth elsewhere and range from language barriers to disparities in resources to lack of understanding of research approaches, much of which likely tie back to historical effects from colonialism.

We are pleased to see the push across many societies and groups to address this important issue. While we do know that a single special feature will not solve the problem, we hope that the collection of articles will catalyze people to think more about geographic disparities and how they might do their part to counter it, from small steps like welcoming a foreign colleague to being more open to new ways of thinking about or doing science to more active efforts like seeking out colleagues outside of the dominant geographic areas as collaborators, reviewers, or award nominees. Each of these actions, large and small, helps to raise awareness and change mindsets. Finally, journals need to have within their editorial teams and board meetings members of the least represented regions, so that they can contribute to developing strategies to reduce the gap in publication disparities.

is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the fast publication and worldwide dissemination of high-quality research. For more information and details of how to submit, please visit the journal's website.

Image: NASA’s Terra satellite for the MODIS imageries, combined by Meow. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stöckli (land surface, shallow water, clouds). Enhancements by Robert Simmon (ocean color, compositing, 3D globes, animation). Data and technical support: MODIS Land Group; MODIS Science Data Support Team; MODIS Atmosphere Group; MODIS Ocean Group Additional data: USGS EROS Data Center (topography); USGS Terrestrial Remote Sensing Flagstaff Field Center (Antarctica); Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (city lights)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.