The Gender Gap and Academic Publishing in Political Science: Evidence from Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT The underrepresentation of women-authored scholarship in political science journals remains a persistent issue. Studies confirm that a gender gap exists in many leading American and European journals and that a key contributing factor is the lack of supply from women authors. To what extent is this gap present in the Canadian Journal of Political Science (CJPS), given the Canadian Political Science Association’s efforts to promote gender equality? To answer this question, we analyze an original dataset of CJPS submissions from 2008 to 2022. We find that a modest gender gap does exist; women tend to submit fewer manuscripts and publish fewer articles in the CJPS relative to men. On the other hand, we find no evidence of bias against women authors during the review process. In fact, they fare as well or better than men across editorial teams and regardless of the handling editor’s gender.