These findings of sex and gender blindness represent the continuation of centuries-old archetypes that see male sex as the norm, resulting in a unidimensional view of humanity. Larivière and colleagues have provided strong empirical evidence that change to two-dimensional vision is possible—and have shown that change happens when the people doing the research also change.

There could be some truth in the trope that people measure what they treasure. A shift to a more diverse and inclusive research community might result in research outputs that carry greater meaning and potential benefit for more people in more parts of the world. Such a shift would be transformative—but the extent to which this shift is feasible and effective depends on the measurement being treasured more widely. The research community and funders need to move beyond a measurement revolution to an accountability revolution—one that is based on respect and realisation of universal human rights12 to ensure that scientific research is universally beneficial and not limited by sex, gender, ethnicity, nationality, income, or any other intersecting index of inequality. Such a revolution towards accountability in research is more likely to occur when the research community itself becomes more inclusive, diverse, and representative, and works to ensure that everyone counts.