Gender disparity between authors in leading medical journals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional review. Issue 7 (14th July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Misra, Vaidehi; Safi, Frozan; Brewerton, Kathryn A; Wu, Wei; Mason, Robin; Chan, An-Wen; Rochon, Paula A; Lega, Iliana C; Abdel-Qadir, Husam
• Is Part Of: BMJ open. Volume 11:Issue 7(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07-14
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- medical education & training -- education & training (see medical education & training) -- medical journalism -- journalism (see medical journalism); Medicine -- Research -- Periodicals; 610.72
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051224
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2044-6055

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: Evaluate gender differences in authorship of COVID-19 articles in high-impact medical journals compared with other topics. Design: Cross-sectional review. Data sources: Medline database. Eligibility criteria: Articles published from 1 January to 31 December 2020 in the seven leading general medical journals by impact factor. Article types included primary research, reviews, editorials and commentaries. Data extraction: Key data elements were whether the study topic was related to COVID-19 and names of the principal and the senior authors. A hierarchical approach was used to determine the likely gender of authors. Logistic regression assessed the association of study characteristics, including COVID-19 status, with authors' likely gender; this was quantified using adjusted ORs (aORs). Results: We included 2252 articles, of which 748 (33.2%) were COVID-19-related and 1504 (66.8%) covered other topics. A likely gender was determined for 2138 (94.9%) principal authors and 1890 (83.9%) senior authors. Men were significantly more likely to be both principal (1364 men; 63.8%) and senior (1332 men; 70.5%) authors. COVID-19-related articles were not associated with the odds of men being principal (aOR 0.99; 95% CI 0.81 to 1.21; p=0.89) or senior authors (aOR 0.96; 95% CI 0.78 to 1.19; p=0.71) relative to other topics. Articles with men as senior authors were more likely to have men as principal authors (aOR 1.49; 95% CI 1.21 to 1.83; p<0.001). Men were more likely to author articles reporting original research and those with corresponding authors based outside the USA and Europe. Conclusions: Women were substantially under-represented as authors among articles in leading medical journals; this was not significantly different for COVID-19-related articles. Study limitations include potential for misclassification bias due to the name-based analysis. Results suggest that barriers to women's authorship in high-impact journals during COVID-19 are not significantly larger than barriers that preceded the pandemic and that are likely to continue beyond it. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020186702.