ArticleBMJ open2021
Trends in gender of authors of original research in oncology among major medical journals: a retrospective bibliometric study.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Variations in Author Gender in Obstetrics Disease Prevalence Literature: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Gender and Geographical Diversity in Authorship, Peer Reviewing, and Editorial Roles in theEJVES vascular forum · 2025Article
- Gender Equality Trends of First Authors in Publications of Artificial Intelligence and Thyroid.Cureus · 2023Review
- Gender profile of principal investigators in a large academic clinical trials group.Frontiers in surgery · 2022Article
- Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Advice on YouTube: Unveiling Gaps, Emphasizing Inclusivity, and Striving for Comprehensive Guidance.JB & JS open accessReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveWe evaluated the temporal trend in gender ratios of first and last authors in the field of oncological research published in major general medical and oncology journals and examined the gender pattern in coauthorship.
designWe conducted a retrospective study in PubMed using the R package RISmed. We retrieved original research articles published in four general medical journals and six oncology specialty journals. These journals were selected based on their impact factors and popularity among oncologists. We identified the names of first and last authors from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2019. The gender of the authors was identified and validated using the Gender API database (https://gender-api.com/). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The percentages of first and last authors by gender and the gender ratios (male to female) and temporal trends in gender ratios of first and last authors were determined.
resultsWe identified 34 624 research articles, in which 32 452 had the gender of both first and last authors identified. Among these 11 650 (33.6%) had women as the first author and 7908 (22.8%) as the last author, respectively. The proportion of female first and last authors increased from 26.6% and 16.2% in 2002, to 32.9% and 27.5% in 2019, respectively. However, the gender ratio (male to female) of first and last authors decreased by 1.5% and 2.6% per year, respectively, which were statistically significant (first author: incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.98, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.00; last author: IRR 0.97, 95% CI 0.96 to 0.99). Male first and last authorship was the most common combination. Male-female and female-female pairs increased by 2.0% and 5.0%, respectively (IRR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.03 and IRR 1.05, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.06, respectively).
conclusionsThe continued under-representation of women means that more efforts to address parity for advancement of women in academic oncology are needed.
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