Trends in the Gender of First and Senior Authors of Original Research Publications in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology

Abstract

<h3>Study Objective</h3> To assess the trend in the proportion of female first and senior authors in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology (JMIG) over time. <h3>Design</h3> Retrospective cohort study. <h3>Setting</h3> Original research publications in JMIG in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. <h3>Patients or Participants</h3> First and senior (last) authors of publications. <h3>Interventions</h3> The likely gender of first and senior authors were determined through a validated algorithm used widely in medical publishing (genderize.io) and, when necessary, follow-up internet search. <h3>Measurements and Main Results</h3> We confirmed the likely gender of first and senior authors from 316/355 publications. Five articles had one author (all male). The percentage of articles with female first authors increased over time, with 7%, 30%, 43%, and 53% articles having female first authors in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. When compared to 2005, the odds of female first authorship were significantly higher at the latter two timepoints (2010: OR 2.6, p=0.06; 2015: OR 4.7, p=0.001; 2020 OR 6.8, p<0.001). The percentage of articles with female senior authors also increased over time, with 20%, 24%, 22%, and 36% of articles having female senior authors. However, when compared to 2005, the odds of female senior authorship were not significantly higher at each time point (2010: OR 1.2, p=0.67; 2015: OR 1.1, p=0.91; 2020: OR 2.1, p=0.08). Overall, 43 (14%) of articles had female-female, 42 (14%) had male-female, 83 (27%) had female-male, and 143 (46%) had male-male coauthors. Articles with female senior authors were significantly more likely to have female first authors (43/85, 51%) than articles with male senior authors (83/226, 37%, p=0.02). <h3>Conclusion</h3> Women have made significant gains as first but not senior authors in Original Research publications in JMIG. Future exploration of this phenomenon will correlate gender of authors with the gender breakdown of the field. Intentional monitoring of the gender diversity of authors may contribute to increased equity in medical publishing.