Himmelfarb welcomes new staff: Ashford Lanquist (bottom left) and Max Close (top right).
If you’ve been to Himmelfarb Library recently, you may have noticed some new faces at the Reference and Circulation Desks! Two new staff members joined us in the month of November: Max Close is our new Reference Specialist, and Leland Ashford Lanquist (Ashford or Ash) is our new Evening/Weekend Circulation Supervisor. We are thrilled to have them both as part of the Himmelfarb team!
Max can often be found at the Himmelfarb Reference Desk ready to answer your reference and library related questions. In addition to his reference duties, Max will also be an integral part of planning Himmelfarb’s annual art show, which will be returning Spring 2022 after a hiatus last year due to the pandemic. Max is originally from Concord, Massachusetts, but moved to the DC area (Silver Spring) just over two years ago to attend graduate school at American University. Max completed his M.A. in Public History at American University in May 2021, and brings experience in archives, museum collections, library resources, and research to his position.
Ashford can often be found at the Himmelfarb Circulation Desk helping patrons, assisting student employees, or processing 3D printing requests. Ashford will be an integral part of hiring, training, scheduling and supervising new student employees and keeping things running smoothly at the Circulation Desk in the evenings and weekends. Since Ashford’s normal working hours include times when the reference desk is closed, he will be available to provide basic reference assistance to users as needed in the evening and late night hours. Ashford grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and recently moved from Seattle, Washington where he was attending graduate school, to the DC area in November to join the Himmelfarb team. He recently completed his Master of Library and Information Science degree at the University of Washington in June 2021, and brings experience in libraries, community engagement, research, and technology to his position.
In addition to Max and Ashford joining the Himmelfarb team, a number of other Himmelfarb staff are celebrating career milestones this year, ranging from five years to thirty-five years of service with GW! Congratulations to the following Himmelfarbians on your service to GW and to Himmelfarb Library! Himmelfarb is proud of each of you for your dedication, commitment, and accomplishments during your time at GW and at Himmelfarb Library!
While it’s no secret that predatory publishers have existed for years, there appears to be a recent trend of scam guest editors infiltrating legitimate scholarly journals and taking over special issues of journals published by large, trusted publishers. Publishers including Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, and Springer Nature have all fallen victim to this new tactic used by scammers. It appears that the scholarly publishing community now has to not only be wary of predatory journals, but predatory editors as well.
The Arabian Journal of Geosciences, published by Springer Nature, has published 412 suspicious articles in recent months. Most of these articles were complete nonsense and included topics unrelated to geosciences including swimming, basketball, “sea-level height and aerobics training”, and “sports-injury insurance along with rainfall” (Bartlett, 2021). The founder and editor-in-chief of Arabian Journal of Geosciences claimed that his email account had been hacked, and that he was “just as perplexed as everyone else about how so many ridiculous papers… made it into the journal” (Bartlett, 2021).
In April 2021, computer science researchers noticed journal articles using strange terms that they called “tortured phrases” (Else, 2021b). The phrases they noticed included terms like “counterfeit consciousness” instead of “artificial intelligence,” and “colossal information” instead of “big data” (Else, 2021b). One Elsevier journal in particular, Microprocessors and Microsystems, seemed to have published 31 of these phrases in a single article!
In both of these cases, the sham papers were discovered by outside entities - not by journal editors, the journal’s editorial boards, or even by the publisher. The Springer Nature articles were discovered by commenters on PubPeer, “a website that allows readers to dissect scientific papers after they’re published” (Bartlett, 2021). The Elsevier papers were discovered by Guillaume Cabanac and a group of computer scientists working on a study (Else, 2021a). Cabanac and his team suspected that the “tortured phrases” resulted from the use of automated translation software or other software that can be used to help disguise plagiarism (Bartlett, 2021). They identified around 500 questionable articles with “critical flaws” that included nonsensical text and plagiarized text and images (Bartlett, 2021).
Springer Nature and Elseiver both launched investigations. Elsevier identified 400 articles in which the “peer review process was compromised” (Marcus, 2021). Elsevier issued a statement explaining that “the integrity and rigor of the peer-review process” had fallen “beneath the high standards expected by Microprocessors and Microsystems” (Marcus, 2021). Elsevier also acknowledged that a “configuration error in the editorial system” resulting from a system migration temporarily prevented appropriate editors from handling papers for approval (Else, 2021b). This issue was resolved soon after being discovered. Elsevier began to re-assess all papers that were published in the special issues in question and has made the appropriate retractions and expressions of concern. In addition, the publisher began to take a deeper look into the “overall processes regarding Special Issues in all subject areas” and introduced “further checks to ensure that all accept decisions are confirmed by an Editor in Chief or editorial board member and to alert staff to irregularities as a Special Issue progresses” (Marcus, 2021).
The Springer Nature investigation exposed “deliberate attempts to subvert the trust-based editorial process and manipulate the publication record” according to a spokesperson for the publisher (Else, 2021a). It’s common for journals to publish special issues of articles focusing on a specific topic. It’s also common for these special issues to be “overseen by guest editors who are experts in the research topic, but are not usually involved in the day-to-day editorial work of the journal” (Else, 2021a). In recent years, it seems that the number of guest editors using these special issues to disseminate low quality research has become more noticable. Ivan Oransky of Retraction Watch stated that “it is not clear whether special-issue scamming is becoming more common or whether it is just becoming more visible. I do think that the journals are waking up to it, actually looking for it and having systems in place” (Else, 2021a).
While it’s alarming that scammers have been able to use special issues of legitimate journals published by well-respected publishers to disseminate low-quality or even pseudo-science articles, it’s encouraging that these publishers are starting to take steps to prevent this from happening in the future. Elsevier now “validates the identities and qualifications of guest editors” in addition to having added the additional measure of having an Editor-in-Chief or editorial board member confirm each paper’s acceptance in an effort to catch irregularities (Else, 2021a). Springer Nature is not only “putting extra checks in place,” but they are “developing artificial-intelligence tools that can identify and prevent attempts to deliberately manipulate the system” (Else, 2021a). Springer Nature also plans to share the evidence they are gathering regarding “how the deceptions are carried out” with other publishers (Else, 2021a).
Do you need to get or create citations, but aren’t sure how to get them quickly? Himmelfarb Library has resources that can help you get and create the citations you need for your resources.
Citations are a means of giving proper credit to the sources you use, allow your audience to look up the sources you use, and add credibility and transparency to your work. In addition, failing to cite your sources is plagiarism, and can have serious consequences to your academic and professional career. Himmelfarb Librarian Tom Harrod provides an excellent explanation about why it’s important to cite your sources in this Why Cite video.
Many of Himmelfarb’s resources provide citations with the click of a button! Himmelfarb’s library catalog, which can be searched by using the search bar on the library’s homepage, provides citations for most of our resources by simply clicking the citation button. You can then select your desired citation style, and copy and paste the citation to your document.
Many Himmelfarb databases including PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and AccessMedicine also provide citations for resources. While these automatically generated citations are extremely convenient and can be a great time-saver, it’s important to double check citations before including them in your work. You may find that the formatting is slightly off and corrections may be necessary.
Do you need an easy place to gather, manage, store and share your citations and bibliography? RefWorks may be the tool for you! It’s easy to upload documents and bibliographic information to your RefWorks library. The Reference Citation Manager allows you to import citations and format your paper. If you are new to RefWorks and want to learn more about using this tool, be sure to watch our Introduction to RefWorks video taught by Himmelfarb Librarian Paul Levett.
Are you ready to tackle creating your own citations from scratch? Or perhaps you need to check to make sure those automatically generated citations are formatted correctly. Himmelfarb’s APA, AMA, Harvard citation style guides are excellent tools for creating citations or checking formatting of existing citations. We also have citation tutorials available to provide additional help.
Himmelfarb even has resources to help with more complicated citation needs. Do you have a list of citations in one format, but need to convert them into a different format? Learn how to change between citation styles with Himmelfarb Librarian Stacy Brody in our From AMA to APA: Quickly Changing Citation Styles video. Do you want to learn how to use citations to find related articles, identify influential articles, or track the impact of your own work? Learn how to use citations to accomplish these goals with Himmelfarb Librarian Tom Harrod in this Tracking Citations with Scopus video.
Whether you just need a quick citation to a journal article or book, need to create a citation from scratch, need a tool like RefWorks to help you organize your resources and format your paper, or want to watch a short tutorial on one of many different citation related topics, Himmelfarb is here to help! Still have questions about citations? Contact us through the Ask Us feature on our website, or email us at himmelfarb@gwu.edu.
With the development of COVID-19 vaccines, there has been a renewed interest in all things vaccine related and vaccine development has taken center stage on the global stage. In support of vaccine research, Springer Nature has compiled key resources on the past, present and future of vaccine research in a new Evolution of Vaccines resource that is available to you through Himmelfarb Library! Simply request access to these resources by completing a short form, and you will have access to these fantastic resources.
In the Present: The Latest Developments section of this resource, you will find case studies, blog posts, videos, review articles, and article collections all related to current vaccine developments. In the Future: What We Can Expect section of this resource, you will find review articles, perspectives, podcasts, blog posts, and article collections that explore how vaccines might progress in the future.
Also included in this collection are two short videos that do a fantastic job of explaining how vaccines work and how vaccines are developed:
Are you looking for ways to increase the impact and visibility of an upcoming publication? Would you like to use social media to get the word out, but aren’t sure how to do so effectively? One option is to include a ‘Tweetable Abstract’ in your paper’s abstract when you submit it for publication. In today’s world, Twitter can be a fantastic tool to help promote your research. Twitter can help you share your research with other researchers, journalists, decision makers, and the general public.
A tweetable abstract is a one or two line summary of your research, 280 characters or less, that communicates the main conclusion or the key message of your paper. Many publishers are now asking authors to include tweetable abstracts alongside traditional abstracts so the publisher can promote your article online. Tweetable abstracts are even showing up as part of article abstracts in databases such as PubMed and Scopus!
Once readers find your article, this tweetable abstract makes it easy for them to share your work on Twitter, thus expanding your potential audience even further. Here are some tips and tricks to help you create a tweetable abstract:
Keep it short! Twitter has a 280 characterlimit (characters - not words). Your abstract must be within this limit. That said, when it comes to Twitter, less is more. Shorter tweets tend to have more engagement with users.
Communicate the main conclusion or the key message of your paper. Here’s an example of a Tweet that does this from JAMA:
Consider using a leading question to attract interest. You can provide a short answer in your tweet if you have space. Here’s an example of a tweetable question based on an article from the Journal of Advanced Nursing Twitter account:
Avoid jargon - a tweetable abstract should be approachable, not intimidating.
Use relevant tags and hashtags to increase the number of people who see your tweet.
Turn buzzwords into hashtags.
Be strategic about when you post your tweetable abstract. Post it during times you know people are active on Twitter. Avoid posting in the middle of the night.
Include your Twitter handle in your tweetable abstract! This will allow others to reach out to you about your work. Here’s a good example of an author’s Twitter Handle being used in a tweet by the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH):
Want more information on how to create effective tweetable abstracts? Watch this short video from the Society for Conservation Biology to learn more about content, using hashtags, and including your Twitter Handle in your tweetable abstract.
A July 2021 post on MedPage Today discussed the fact that e-cigarette maker Juul had spent $51,000 to publish an entire special issue of articles in the American Journal of Health Behavior (AJHB) that promote the use of e-cigarettes. The special issue includes 11 studies focused on “the implications of switching from cigarettes to Juul systems, and dual use of cigarettes and Juul products” (Torjesen, 2021).
Juul partnered with Pinney Associates and the Centre for Substance Use Research (CSUR) to conduct these studies (Basen, 2021). According to the Pinney Associates website, they help “pharmaceutical companies and consumer healthcare clients to reduce their regulatory risk and enhance the commercial value of their life sciences products” (Pinney Associates, 2021). The company began working exclusively with Juul Labs, Inc. in 2019 “to advance relative risk-based regulation of nicotine and tobacco products” because “smokers should not have to suffer unnecessarily and risk dying prematurely because of how they get their nicotine” (Pinney Associates, 2021).
CSUR’s website states that they are an “independent research centre” with a goal of ensuring that those within the e-cigarette industry “have access to high quality behavioural research that can further their own goals of reducing the harms associated with the use of combustible tobacco products” (CSUR, 2021). The CSUR website even touted the recent special issue of AJHB as “reporting on the impact of the JUUL e-cigarette on adult smoker behavior” and later praised Juul’s commitment to “strengthening the evidence base around the contribution of electronic nicotine delivery systems in reducing the multiple harms of smoking” (CSUR, 2021).
According to MedPage Today, “Juul staff contributed to every article...while Pinney staff worked on 10 of them and CSUR staff conducted data analyses for seven” of the 11 articles published in this AJHB special issue. While AJHB policy is to charge researchers to publish in their journal, it is unusual for a company to purchase an entire issue.
A Juul news release from April 2021 stated that following Juul’s Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTA) filing in July 2020, the 11 studies published in this special issue were a result of Juul’s regulatory team shifting their focus to publishing “key research underlying our application through peer-reviewed manuscripts.” The FDA is currently considering this filing and was expected to announce a ruling yesterday (September 9, 2021) on whether or not Juul vaping products could remain on the market. However, the FDA delayed this decision saying it needed more time to rule on Juul’s products according to an article published in The Washington Post and an NPR story that aired on All Things Considered yesterday.
AJHB has faced criticism following the publication of the special issue. The backlash has resulted in the retirement of Elbert Glover, the journal’s executive editor at the time of the issue’s publication, and the resignation of three editorial board members. While Juul claims that the company “must engage with the public health community on the science and facts underlying our products,” critics including David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, point out that all articles published in the AJHB special issue “take the Juul party line that e-cigarettes help convert smokers away from combustible tobacco products, and thus aid public health” (Basen, 2021).
“After decades of tobacco companies paying previously credible scientists to produce studies designed to reach a predetermined outcome to foster their marketing goals and mislead the public about the overall state of the evidence, one thing should be abundantly clear: research funded by tobacco companies cannot be treated as a credible source of science or evidence. No credible scientific journal should allow a tobacco company to use it for this purpose.”
Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (Torjesen, 2021)
Elbert Glover, AJHB’s now retired editor-in-chief, defended the journal's decision to publish the special issue in a recent BMJ news article and explained that “to reject a paper [based] on who funded the work rather than science is wrong '' (Torjesen, 2021). Glover also claimed that all manuscripts went through the full review process with no special treatment, and nothing was hidden during the review process (Torjesen, 2021). However, this claim was refuted by a reviewer who alleged that “reviewers were not informed of Juul’s role until they questioned ‘fishy’ aspects of the studies” (Redden, 2021). The unnamed reviewer explained she even recommended one study be rejected because it was so biased and made her think there was “No way it wasn’t funded by Juul” (Redden, 2021).
This situation is a reminder of the importance of thinking critically about research. Publication itself in a peer-reviewed journal is not enough to ensure that the research is good research. Things to consider when evaluating research include: potential conflict of interest (i.e. author affiliation and/or funding sources), bias, appropriate study design, sample size (and if the sample is representative of the wider population), data collection methods, and the use of appropriate statistical measures and methods.
The funding source of research that produced an article is perhaps the most relevant of these criteria in the case of the AJHB Juul special issue. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis analyzed articles published in peer-reviewed journals and assessed whether or not funding sources supported or opposed substitution of tobacco or nicotine products as harm reduction (Hendlin et al., 2019). Of the 826 articles reviewed, “23.9% disclosed support by industry; 49% of articles endorsed THR [tobacco harm reduction]; 42% opposed it, and 9% took a neutral or mixed positions” (Hendlin et al., 2019). The article concluded that “non-industry funded articles were evenly divided in stance, while industry-funded articles favored THR” and that “public health practitioners and researchers need to account for industry funding when interpreting the evidence in THR debates” (Hendlin et al., 2019).
Do you want to learn more about how to evaluate a resource’s credibility? Himmelfarb Library can help! Check out the following video for more information about evaluating a resource's credibility
CSUR: Centre for Substance Use Research. (2021). Centre for Substance Use Research website. https://www.csures.com/
Hendlin, Y. H., Vora, M., Elias, J., & Ling, P. M. (2019). Financial Conflicts of Interest and Stance on Tobacco Harm Reduction: A Systematic Review. American journal of public health, 109(7), e1–e8. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305106
Torjesen I. (2021). Academic journal is criticised for publishing special issue funded by tobacco industry. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 373, n1247. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1247
If you have watched the news during the past year, you’ve likely heard about mRNA vaccines. You may even have had a more personal connection to mRNA vaccines. If you received either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, you received an mRNA vaccine! Perhaps you heard that GW served as a clinical trial site for the Moderna mRNA vaccine, and may have volunteered for the clinical trial.
How do these vaccines work? Traditional vaccines trigger immune responses in the body through injecting “a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies” (CDC, 2021). mRNA vaccines work differently. Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is a type of ribonucleic acid (RNA) that uses information in cells to create a blueprint for protein production within the body (NLM, NIH, HHS, 2021). mRNA vaccines introduce “a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein, usually a piece of a protein found on the virus’s outer membrane” (NLM, NIH, HHS, 2021). Your body uses this mRNA as a recipe, and cells start to make this viral protein. “As part of a normal immune response, the immune system recognizes that the protein is foreign and produces specialized proteins called antibodies” (NLM, NIH, HHS, 2021). These antibodies protect against infection “by recognizing individual viruses or pathogens, attaching to them, and marking the pathogens for destruction” (NLM, NIH, HHS, 2021).
The surface of the COVID-19 virus (Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) is covered in “spike proteins,” a glycoprotein that helps the virus enter a host cell by binding to a receptor on the surface of a host cell and fusing the viral and host cell membranes together. mRNA COVID-19 vaccines teach the body how to make this spike protein, (CDC, 2021). Once vaccinated, your body begins to recognize this spike protein as an intruder and begins to produce antibodies to fight off these spike proteins. Once you have these antibodies, they will be able to identify these spike proteins should you be exposed to the COVID-19 virus (Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2). If you do have a Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 exposure, these antibodies will quickly identify the spike proteins surrounding the virus, attach themselves to these spike proteins, and destroy the COVID-19 virus before it is able to cause serious illness (NLM, NIH, HHS, 2021).
The following video produced by the Mayo Clinic provides a straightforward overview of how mRNA vaccines work against COVID-19:
Many people believe that mRNA vaccines can alter their DNA. However, this is not possible through mRNA vaccines. Once the mRNA has delivered the instructions of how to make the protein to your cells, the mRNA is broken down fairly quickly and “it never enters the nucleus of your cells, where your DNA is kept” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2021). Since the mRNA never interacts with your DNA, your DNA will not be altered in any way from an mRNA vaccine.
While mRNA vaccines may seem new, they have actually been researched for decades. The first report of a successful mRNA vaccine was reported in 1990 in animals (Pardi et al., 2018). mRNA vaccines have distinct benefits over traditional vaccines. Among these benefits are safety and production. Because the vaccine does not contain the virus itself, there is no risk for infection. Production of mRNA vaccines have the “potential for rapid inexpensive and scalable manufacturing”(Pardi et al., 2018), as has been demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. For a more in-depth scientific review of pre-COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, Pardi, Hogan, Porter, and Weissman’s review article titled mRNA Vaccines - A New Era in Vaccinology provides an excellent overview of mRNA vaccines.
Mayo Clinic. (2021, February 8). Mayo Clinic Insights: How mRNA Vaccines Work . Mayo Clinic YouTube Channel. https://youtu.be/RvR_yf_haqQ
Pardi, N., Hogan, M. J., Porter, F. W., & Weissman, D. (2018). mRNA vaccines-a new era in vaccinology. Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery, 17(4), 261–279. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2017.243
Himmelfarb Library provides access to more than 125 databases, 6,400 e-books, and 4,800 journals - all of which are available electronically through Himmelfarb’s website. We understand that finding and accessing the full-text to this content can sometimes feel overwhelming. But have no fear, this post will point you to some tools that can help streamline accessing full-text content.
LibKey Nomad & Browzine
LibKey Nomad works with multiple resources including PubMed, publisher sites, Scopus, Web of Science and others to immediately deliver a full-text PDF when available. If a full-text PDF is not available, LibKey Nomad will provide you with Himmelfarb full-text and document delivery options.
To use LibKey Nomad, download LibKey Nomad from the Chrome Web Store page. If you prefer a different browser, you can download the extension for Firefox or Edge. (A Safari extension is current being developed, but is not yet available). After installing the browser extension, choose “George Washington University - Himmelfarb Library” as your institution, and you’re all set!
LibKey Nomad streamlines the process of getting full-text articles by making it possible to get the articles directly from the publisher’s website. Once you have the LibKey Nomad browser extension installed, you no longer need to go to Himmelfarb’s website, log-in, search our collections, and be linked to full-text content. LibKey Nomad integrates full-text access directly from where you find the article! If you have questions about using LibKey Nomad, contact Laura Abate (leabate@gwu.edu).
Browzine is another resource that can help you access full-text content. Browzine enables you to build a bookshelf of your favorite journals from Himmelfarb Library’s holdings. Users are alerted when new articles and issues are available, and read and save full-text content. To download the Browzine app, head over to the Himmelfarb App Shelf.
GW VPN
If you prefer to access content by going directly through Himmelfarb’s website, you can still access full-text content directly through our website quickly and easily. We strongly recommend connecting through the GW VPN if you are accessing our resources from off-campus. Using the VPN allows your computer to function as though it is on the GW campus, and therefore ensures seamless, integrated access to all of Himmelfarb’s electronic resources without additional logins.
You need to have a GW NetID in order to use the VPN. If you have not already done so, you can obtain your GW NetID from the GW Help Desk Account Center. Instructions for downloading the GW VPN can be found on Himmelfarb’s Off-Campus Access page.
Himmelfarb Website Access
When accessing full-text content directly from Himmelfarb’s website, you can search our catalog using the search box on our homepage, search our databases, or go directly to an individual journal. When searching our catalog, you will be able to tell if the full-text of the item is available online by looking for the “Available Online” link shown in the screenshot below.
If the item is a book, clicking on this link will open the book and you can locate the chapter or section of the book you would like to read from there. For journal articles, you may see several access options including a “Download PDF” link and a “View Issue Contents” link if you are using LibKey Nomad, and an “Available Online” link (see screenshot below).
If you have the LibKey Nomad browser extension installed, clicking on the “Download PDF” link will open a PDF copy of the full-text of the article that you can read or download to your device. Clicking on the “Available Online” option will open the catalog record and you will see the available options for viewing this article, as seen in the screenshot below.
Simply click on the option you wish to view, and the full-text of the article will open. Clicking on the “Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals” link from the above example, brought up the following page:
From here, click on the “View PDF” button in the top left corner of the page to download the full-text PDF, or scroll down the page to view the full-text of the article on your web browser. It’s important to note that each publisher may place their PDF download link in a different location on their pages, so you may need to scan the page to find this option depending on the publisher.
For books, we often have access to both a physical copy and an electronic copy of the book. In these cases, you will see that the item is available in Himmelfarb’s book stacks (located in the basement level) with a call number that will help you locate the item on the shelf, as well the “Available Online” link mentioned above. To access the full-text online, simply click the “Available Online” link.
Locating and finding full-text access to Himmelfarb’s electronic resources is seamless and easy with tools like LibKey Nomad, the GW VPN, and the Himmelfarb website! Should you experience any problems accessing our resources, refer to our Access Issues guide that provides some troubleshooting tips that provide solutions for some of the most common access problems. You can also reach out to us at himmsubs@gwu.edu for help.
It’s official - the results of the 2021 Faculty Journal Survey are here! Himmelfarb Library would like to thank all faculty members who took time to participate in this year’s survey! Your feedback will help improve our resources and services to better serve you in the coming years.
Of the 122 respondents, 94% expressed satisfaction with Himmelfarb’s resources and services! While we are thrilled with this overwhelmingly positive feedback, we recognize that there is always room for improvement. Survey results indicate that opportunities for improvement exist related to VPN education, Interlibrary Loan and Documents2Go education and usability, journal ease of use, expansion of our journal collection, and increased promotion of underutilized services and resources.
In an effort to remain accountable to communities who have been negatively impacted by past and present medical injustices, the staff at Himmelfarb Library is committed to the work of maintaining an anti-discriminatory practice. We will uplift and highlight diverse stories throughout the year, and not shy away from difficult conversations necessary for health sciences education. To help fulfill this mission, today's blog post celebrates International Non-Binary Day!
July 14th is International Non-Binary Day! The first International Non-Binary Day took place in 2012 (Angulo, 2019). The date falls between International Women’s Day and International Men’s Day, making it an appropriate date on which to raise awareness of people who do not identify exclusively as man or woman. So what is non-binary?
Non-binary refers to anyone whose gender identity isn’t categorized as female or male. While some non-binary people identify as both a man and a woman, others don’t identify with either of these gender categories (HRC Staff, 2020). While some non-binary people identify as transgender, many do not. “Non-binary identities are varied and can include people who identify with some aspects of binary identities, while others reject them entirely” (Stonewall Staff, 2006). Simply put, being non-binary is as unique and individual as the people who identify as non-binary.
We can all be an ally to non-binary people. Some of the simplest things you can do to be inclusive involve being aware of how the language you use can have a positive impact on everyone, regardless of gender identity. Including your pronouns when you introduce yourself, in your email signatures and social media profiles can be a great starting point. When you introduce yourself, saying “Hi, my name is Jane and I use she/her pronouns” can be an easy way for other people to safely introduce their pronouns. This not only lets the person know that you are interested in using their correct pronouns, but also makes it easy for them to communicate their preferences to you if they wish. You may also consider using gender neutral language when you are addressing a group by replacing “ladies and gentleman” with “folks” or “everyone.” When mentioning relationships, consider using gender neutral terms such as parents (instead of father/mother), children (instead of sons/daughters), siblings (instead of brothers/sisters), or partner (instead of husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend).
From a medical and health perspective, non-binary people often experience health disparities resulting from their non-binary identities. One qualitative study published in 2020 in the Journal of Sex Research “explored the unique ways that non-binary adolescents experience minority stress and how it influences their mental health and well-being” (Johnson et al., 2020). Identity invalidation (the refusal to accept someone’s identity as “real” or “true”) was experienced during interpersonal relationships, within the LGBTQ communitity, on an institutional level in school environments, and through a lack of representation in the media (Johnson et al., 2020). The data collected from this study suggests that “identity invalidation has deleterious effects on mental health and contributes to mental health disparities facing non-binary adolescents” (Johnson et al. 2020).
A study published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved in 2018 examined interactions between transgender and gender non-binary individuals and their health care providers and identified characteristics of positive and negative interactions. Characteristics of positive clinician-patient interactions included: the correct use of names and pronouns; use of gender neutral language when referencing relationships, anatomy, and procedures; clinician knowledge of and experience with transgender and non-binary health; and treatment of identity disclosure as routine (Baldwin et al., 2018). Characteristics of negative clinician-patient interactions included: misgendering; lack of information and experience with transgender and non-binary patients (which often led to irrelevant questions stemming from clinician curiosity); and transphobia that led to a denial of care or a referral to another provider - another form of denial of care (Baldwin et al., 2018). This study concluded that formal medical education and training programs need to provide education and experience related to gender diverse patients. “Adjusting patient intake protocol and forms at the system-level to incorporate gender-neutral terminology and facilitate the use of preferred names and pronouns” was all supported by this study (Baldwin et al, 2018).
As we celebrate International Non-Binary Day this year, take some time to explore resources such as SMHS’s LGBTQIA+ Community Support page, and GW student groups such as GW Out for Health or Transgender and Non-Binary Students of GWU. One of the best ways to celebrate International Non-Binary Day is through education and learning more about the non-binary experience. The following video is a great starting point - take a look and learn what it’s like to be non-binary.
Baldwin, A., Dodge, B., Schick, V. R., Light, B., Scharrs, P. W., Herbenick, D., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2018). Transgender and Genderqueer Individuals’ Experiences with Health Care Providers: What’s Working, What’s Not, and Where Do We Go from Here? Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 29(4), 1300–1318. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2018.0097
Johnson, K. C., LeBlanc, A. J., Deardorff, J., & Bockting, W. O. (2020). Invalidation Experiences Among Non-Binary Adolescents. The Journal of Sex Research, 57(2), 222–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2019.1608422
