Trends in Gender Distribution Among Authors of Research Studies in Pediatrics: 2015-2019.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: IQR — : interquartile range In a previous report on the gender distribution of authors of articles published in leading pediatric journals, researchers found disparities in the proportion of articles written by women relative to men, with some closing of the gender gap from 2001 to 2016.1 In 2016, 63% of pediatricians were women; 58% of the publications had a female first author, but only 38% had a female senior author.1,2 Additionally, reports have found that female first authors are associated with female authors in the senior author position and female gender of the first or senior author is associated with a higher number of collaborating departments and institutions.1,3–6 However, to our knowledge, this report is the only study on this topic in the field of pediatrics, assessing authorship gender distribution in 5-year intervals through 2016.1 The Pediatrics editorial board is committed to addressing underrepresentation of all types, including gender differences in authorship. To begin to understand this issue, we evaluated regular articles published in Pediatrics within the past 4.5 years for female representation in authorship, the degree to which the gender of first and senior … Address correspondence to Kriti Puri, MBBS, Texas Children’s Hospital, 6651 Main St, E1420, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail: kriti.puri{at}bcm.edu