Reporting a 35-percent drop in research from women in early-stage roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, Emerald Publishing opens a support network. Waiting for a train at Gordon Hill Station in North London’s Enfield on January 22. Image – iStockphoto: Joshua Sher Williams: ‘So That Women Aren’t Left Behind’ Timed to today’s (March 8) International Women’s Day observances (see our story on PublisHer’s new diversity toolkit), Emerald Publishing, based in Bingley, England, has opened a support network intended to support women in overcoming COVID-era challenges to conducting research. The program is being offered on Emerald’s “Engage” platform. At issue is what the company reports is a disproportionately affected group of female early-career researchers who, in the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, have been “often juggling more caring responsibilities, struggling to stay healthy physically and mentally, as well as being concerned about the impact of this on their career progression.”