Abstract
Publishing original peer-reviewed research is essential for advancement through all career stages. Fewer women than men hold senior-level positions in academic medicine and, therefore, examining publication trends relative to gender is important. The goal of this study was to examine and compare publication trends in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) and The Bone and Joint Journal (BJJ) with a particular emphasis on trends regarding author gender. Data was collected and analyzed for manuscripts published in JBJS and BJJ over the past 30 years. For manuscripts published in 1986, 1996, 2006, and 2016, we recorded the numbers of authors, manuscript pages, references, collaborating institutions, the position in the byline of the corresponding author, the country of the corresponding author, and the names of the first and corresponding author. We also calculated the normalized number of citations and corresponding author position. The number of authors, institutions, and countries collaborating on manuscripts published in both JBJS and BJJ increased over time. JBJS published more manuscripts from North America and BJJ published more manuscripts from Europe. In both journals, the percentage of women as first and/or corresponding author increased over time. Trends over the past 30 years have shown increased collaborations with greater citations in manuscripts published in JBJS and BJJ. In the same time period, both journals demonstrated a rise in the percentage of manuscripts with women first and/or corresponding authors, suggesting a decrease in the gender gap.
Highlights
Original research in peer-reviewed journals allows the review and dissemination of new information. e increasing complexity of research has resulted in increased collaboration among researchers to obtain appropriate expertise [1,2,3]
A Scopus search performed in December of 2017 determined the number of times each manuscript had been cited and was normalized by dividing by the age of the manuscript in years. e corresponding author position (CAP) was standardized by dividing by the total number of authors on the manuscript. e corresponding author’s geographical location was categorized into regions: Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Europe, Latin America, and North America
For Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), the lowest standardized CAP was for manuscripts from Europe (0.37 ± 0.30) whereas for Bone and Joint Journal (BJJ) it was the lowest for those from Asia (0.41 ± 0.30). ere was a difference for JBJS in the number of collaborating countries between North America (1.1 ± 0.5), Europe (1.4 ± 1.0), Asia (1.1 ± 0.2), and Australia/ New Zealand (1.7 ± 0.7), but there was no difference for BJJ
Summary
Original research in peer-reviewed journals allows the review and dissemination of new information. e increasing complexity of research has resulted in increased collaboration among researchers (same institution or geographic region, or different countries) to obtain appropriate expertise [1,2,3]. Due to a few senior-level women in academic medicine, it is important to examine publication trends relative to gender. E goals of this study were twofold: (1) to examine publication trends in e Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) and e Bone and Joint Journal (BJJ) in bibliometric variables over time and (2) to study author gender trends. As JBJS is a US-based journal and BJJ a UK-based journal, it allows for studying author gender trends between the USA and UK. Such data will be helpful for trainees, junior faculty, and senior faculty in mentorship positions
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