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The use of field-standard approaches in neuroscience and psychology can exclude participants from research, biasing our understanding of brain–behavior relations. Here the authors discuss how we might address inequity in our scientific methodology.
Human neuroscience methods (for example, electroencephalography, functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electrodermal response) are biased to exclude data from dark skin and coarse hair—traits common in Black people—and possibly people with racial trauma. We outline strategies to prevent a biased ‘unusable data crisis’.
Palser et al. show that at the top 100 journals in psychology and neuroscience, male editors and those from the USA outnumber female editors and those affiliated with other countries, at rates significantly beyond their participation in the fields.
