Despite the fact that women’s participation in academic medicine has increased in recent decades, gender gaps remain. In gynecologic oncology, the gender gap in authoring and editorial boards have not previously been examined. The researchers looked at gender representation in two prominent peer-reviewed gynecologic oncology journals and how COVID-19 has affected authorship and editorial boards. The researchers conducted a bibliometric study of original papers published in Gynecologic Oncology and the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, comparing the most recent 5-year period (2016–2020) to single years in the two previous decades (1996, 2006). Researchers compared papers published from May 2020 through April 2021 to those published in 2019 in order to assess the COVID-19 early impact. The gender ratio of editorial boards was assessed. The gender of individuals was determined by their first names, pronouns, and institution photos. Between 2016 and 2020, 3022 original papers have been published, 763 in 2006 and 203 in 1996. For first authors, 91.3% were identified as male (3,641 papers), whereas for senior authors, the proportion was 95.6 percent (3,813 papers). In 2021, 57% and 61% of the editorial boards were headed by males. The majority of the gynecological oncology (56%) and international journal of gynecological cancer (60%) editorial boards were led by men in 2021. Over the course of the ten-year study, men were significantly overrepresented as senior authors: 93% in 1996, 77% in 2006, and 58% from 2016 to 2020. Over time, the percentage of women as first and senior authors increased (7% in 1996, 42% in 2016–2020, P<.00001). The early pandemic had little impact on the gender split of authorship. Despite the greater number of women authors in gynecological oncology publications over time, there is still a gender imbalance in senior author and editorial board membership. This opens up the academic publishing field to debate for deliberate methods to achieve gender equality. However, no effect of the initial COVID-19 epidemic was discovered, implying that monitoring is required.
Source:ijgc.bmj.com/content/early/2022/03/17/ijgc-2021-003296
