The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University Luzhou, Sichuan, China
Introduction: Considering peer-reviewed publications affect female's practice and career in gastroenterology and hepatology field, barriers to female's publishing must be removed. In this study, we aimed to describe gender trends of first and last authors in published manuscripts of gastroenterology and hepatology journals from 2000 to 2020. Futhermore, we assessed the predictors associated with female authorship.
Methods: 10 highest impact factor gastroenterology and hepatology journals were selected on the basis of the 2020 Web of Science InCite Journal Citation Report impact factor rankings. Using the online archives on each journal's website, we reviewed all original research manuscripts published in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. Gender of first and last authors was determined using a validated algorithm, genderize.io. We described female first and last authorship percentages by journal and by year of publication. Linear by linear association trend test was used to evaluate for gender trend over time, while logistic regression analysis was performed to identified predictors of female first and last authorship.
Results: Overall, 7853 first authors with 2138 females (27.2%) and 8034 last authors with 1156 females (14.4%) were included in final analysis. The proportion of female first authors in the selected journals combined increased from 20.7% (383/1852) in 2000 to 32.8% (370/1128) in 2020 with a statistically nonsignificant time trend (P value for trend = 0.054). Similarly, the proportion of female senior authors increased from 9.8% (182/1852) in 2000 to 17.5% (222/1271) in 2020 (P value for trend = 0.058). On multivariable analysis, journal, year of publication, and author’s continent remained significantly predictive of female first and last authorship.
Discussion: Overall, gender disparities persist within gastroenteroly and hepatology original publications, and the rate of improvement may be slowing. Today, the challenges facing women in the fields of gastroenterology and hepatology are yet to be overcome.
