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Gender equity of authorship in pulmonary medicine over the past decade.

Authors :: Geng F
Ren Y
Hou H
Dai B
Scott JB
Strickland SL
Mehta S
Li J
Source :: Pulmonology [Pulmonology] 2023 Nov-Dec; Vol. 29 (6), pp. 495-504. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 18.
Publication Year :: 2023
Abstract: Background: Gender disparity in authorship broadly persists in medical literature, little is known about female authorship within pulmonary medicine. Methods: A bibliometric analysis of publications from 2012 to 2021 in 12 journals with the highest impact in pulmonary medicine was conducted. Only original research and review articles were included. Names of the first and last authors were extracted and their genders were identified using the Gender-API web. Female authorship was described by overall distribution and distribution by country/region/continent and journal. We compared the article citations by gender combinations, evaluated the trend in female authorship, and forecasted when parity for first and last authorship would be reached. We also conducted a systematic review of female authorship in clinical medicine. Results: 14,875 articles were included, and the overall percentage of female first authors was higher than last authors (37.0% vs 22.2%, p<0.001). Asia had the lowest percentage of female first (27.6%) and last (15.2%) authors. The percentages of female first and last authors increased slightly over time, except for a rapid increase in the COVID-19 pandemic periods. Parity was predicted in 2046 for the first authors and 2059 for the last authors. Articles with male authors were cited more than articles with female authors. However, male-male collaborations significantly decreased, whereas female-female collaborations significantly increased. Conclusions: Despite the slow improvement in female authorship over the past decade, there is still a substantial gender disparity in female first and last authorship in high-impact medical journals in pulmonary medicine. Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest JL discloses research funding from Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd, Aerogen Ltd, and Rice Foundation, and speaker fees from American Association for Respiratory Care, Aerogen Ltd, Heyer Ltd, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd. JL also serves as section editor for Respiratory Care. JBS discloses research funding from Teleflex and speaker fees from Aerogen and Medline Industries, LP. (Copyright © 2023 Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)