Proportion Of Women Authors Research Articles

Climate for women in climate science: Women scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an authoritative and influential source of reports on climate change. The lead authors of IPCC reports include scientists from around the world, but questions have been raised about the dominance of specific disciplines in the report and the disproportionate number of scholars from the Global North. In this paper, we analyze the as-yet-unexamined issue of gender and IPCC authorship, looking at changes in gender balance over time and analyzing women's views about their experience and barriers to full participation, not only as women but also at the intersection of nationality, race, command of English, and discipline. Over time, we show that the proportion of female IPCC authors has seen a modest increase from less than 5% in 1990 to more than 20% in the most recent assessment reports. Based on responses from over 100 women IPCC authors, we find that many women report a positive experience in the way in which they are treated and in their ability to influence the report, although others report that some women were poorly represented and heard. We suggest that an intersectional lens is important: not all women experience the same obstacles: they face multiple and diverse barriers associated with social identifiers such as race, nationality, command of English, and disciplinary affiliation. The scientific community benefits from including all scientists, including women and those from the Global South. This paper documents barriers to participation and identifies opportunities to diversify climate science.

Women authorship in radiology research in France: An analysis of the last three decades.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the evolution of women authorship in France and to analyze the recent trends of the evolution of gender differences in French academic radiology. A retrospective bibliometric analysis was performed by searching for articles published in Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging (Diagn Interv Imaging) and in Journal de Radiologie (J Radiol) in Pubmed over the last three decades. For each of these articles, we determined the gender of the first and last author. The specific radiological field of each article was also determined. The proportion of women authors has significantly increased from 12% in 1984 to 34% in 2014 (P<0.0001) for the first authors and from 11% (11/96) in 1984 to 20% (38/193) in 2014 for last authors (P =0.03). Women authorship in Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging has increased over the last years together with the proportion of women first authors. However, the fraction of women last authors is still underrepresented. More women need to become leaders in radiological research to contribute to stimulate women authorship.

Trends in Authorship of Articles in Major Ophthalmology Journals by Gender, 2002–2014

To evaluate trends in the prevalence of women authors in ophthalmology in recent years. Cohort study. Authors listed in publications of 6 leading ophthalmology journals between January 2002 and December2014. Using the PubMed search engine, we conducted an observational study of trends in gender distribution of all authors in 6 leading ophthalmology journals between January 2002 and December 2014. In multiauthored articles, the first listed author often is the lead investigator and the last author is the senior author. Therefore, the full names and positions (first, middle, or last) of all authors in every article were collected. A Google-based name identifier was used to assign the gender of authors. Proportion of women authors throughout the study period in all journals, general ophthalmology versus subspecialty journals, and basic science versus clinical research journals. Furthermore, we assessed the proportion of women in different authorship positions (first, middle, and last). A total of 102 254 authors from 23 026 published articles were analyzed. There was a significant rise over time in the percentage of women authors, with a steeper slope for first authors than for last authors (P<0.001), although in 2014, women authors were less than the 50% mark in all categories of authorship. The rise in the percentage of women authors was similar in basic and clinical research, but was steeper for first authorship than for last authorship (P<0.001). In all 3 authorship positions (first, middle, or last), women's contributions consistently were higher in basic research publications. The rise in the percentage of women authors was significantly steeper for general journals than for subspecialty journals (P<0.001). There was no significant rise for last authorship in subspecialty journals. In all 3 authorship positions, the proportion of women was consistently higher in general ophthalmology journals than for subspecialty journals. Despite an overall increase in the contribution of women to the field of ophthalmology, contributions to articles published in subspecialty ophthalmology journals and the proportion of women listed as last authors on overall articles published in ophthalmology journals are still low.

Authorship, Collaboration, and Gender: Fifteen Years of Publication Productivity in Selected Geography Journals

In academia, publication productivity, defined as the number of peer-reviewed articles published and the frequency of citations, is a primary factor in the assessment of tenure and promotion. One of the most cited gender differences in academia is the “productivity puzzle,” which suggests that women publish less than men, thereby affecting every aspect of a woman's academic career. Peer-reviewed articles published in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers (Annals) and The Professional Geographer (PG) between 1995 and 2006, and in four subdisciplinary journals between 2005 and 2009, as well as citation reports, were used to explore whether gender differences are present in publication productivity. Gender differences were evident in the proportion of women authors, the frequency of collaboration, and the number of citations across a broad range of prestigious geographic journals. For all journals studied, women were underrepresented, especially in the authorship positions that equate to notions of respect and merit. Although the number of collaborative articles increased during the study period, single-authored papers are the dominant mode of publication for both men and women for most geographic journals. The authorship patterns for frequently cited articles generally mirror those for all articles. Because the frequency of collaborative publication was high for women, the dual trends of a general increase in publication collaboration and increasing participation of women in academic geography bodes well for increased female productivity as it relates to publishing. Nevertheless, it is important to note that, currently, males as lead or single authors represent the predominant voice of geography within the journals examined in this study.

A Brief View of The American Midland Naturalist Since 1990

When I began my association with The American Midland Naturalist in 1959 as a member of the Executive Committee I had no thought of compiling its indices from 1959 to 1978 (Carpenter and McIntosh 1978), or writing its Life History from its inception in 1909 to 1990 (McIntosh, 1990) in its 82nd year of publication, and even less of continuing a brief comment on aspects of its recent history in a publication now marking its Centennial in 2009. I appreciate the courtesy of its latest, and soon to retire, editor, Dr. William Evans for inviting my reflections on its recent years. In the century of its publication the journal outgrew its name The American Midland Naturalist and description as devoted to natural history, particularly that of the prairie states, and became a national publication on diverse aspects of biology, and since 2005 is appropriately described on its cover as an International Journal of Ecology, Evolution and Environment. Even that wide-ranging description does not encompass its total breadth. In the last two decades its cover has changed from traditional grey, covered with print to tan decorated with a green fern leaf and a green mosquito suggestive of the breadth of taxa included in its pages. In keeping with the times its cost will increase from $50 in the Americas in 1990 to $95 in 2009. It has also added new categories of subscribers–$55 for individuals and $35 for students in 2009. Since 1990 the number of subscribers has varied form 968 to 1167, averaging slightly over 1000. In that interval page charges also increased from $35 to $50 per page. It also changed in other ways. As editor in 1990 I would never have thought of the recent request that the author send a computer disk with the initial copy and another with the accepted copy. I was fortunate in having, for many years, the technical skills of Juanita Thomas as secretary and Charles McCollester as assistant editor. Juanita had antedated me as secretary, a position she held for 41 y. She retired in 1998 and was succeeded by Kimmarie Merz-Bogold who continued until 2008. Between them they made the editor’s job tenable. The change in the breadth of coverage in the journal is evident in the increase in number of Associate Editors from 15 in 1990, with no duplication, to 19 in 2008, two each in Ornithology, and Herpetology and three in Mammalogy. Plant Population Ecology was expanded to Vegetation Ecology. Limnology and Hydrobiology became Aquatic Ecology and Conservation appeared. As might be expected, associate editors served for various intervals very helpfully, but Harald E. Esch was unique in continuing as Associate Editor for Animal Behavior, a post he had held for sometime even before 1990. Versatility was evident in Carl Von Ende who was Associate Editor for Limnology and Hydrobiology in 1995 and for Biological Statistics in 2007. The Executive Committee of the journal expanded from five to seven members, three of them having served 10 y: Ronald A. Hellenthal, David M. Lodge and Richard J. Jensen. The Executive Committee provided invaluable guidance to the editors in developing the policies of the journal. The journal celebrated the Sesquicentennial of Notre Dame University with special issues of Volume 126 in 1991 and Volume 127 in 1992. The authors appearing in the journal are myriad and it would be impossible for me to identify individuals. The number of authors per year varied from 120 in 1992 to 189 in 1996. There was no trend to increase in number, but there was an increase in the number and proportion of women authors. Subject to the limitations of my ability to categorically identify women’s names, women authors increased numerically and as a percent of male Am. Midl. Nat. 161:45–48

The Southeastern Geographer : Looking Back, Looking Forward

This paper summarizes trends in the research and authorship of articles published in the Southeastern Geographer from 1961-2003. The number of articles and pages published have doubled since the early 1990s. The publication of articles on physical geography topics, however, has not kept pace with the increase in human geography topics. Although the journal has consistently provided an outlet for student authors, the proportion of women authors has remained low until a substantial increase in the last five years. Our editorial agenda will focus on increasing the presence of physical and environmental geography in the journal, attracting a broader subscriber base and readership through marketing, and encouraging submissions from outside the South and on non-South topics, while maintaining the journals' intellectual rigor and traditional focus on southern studies.

Is there a sex bias in choosing editors? Epidemiology journals as an example.

Editors, authors, and reviewers are influential in shaping science. The careers of women in public health have received less scrutiny than those of women in medicine and other branches of science. The performance of women as editors, authors, and reviewers in epidemiology has not been previously studied. To examine changes over time in the representation of women at the editorial level in US epidemiology journals compared with the proportion of women authors and reviewers. Cross-sectional study of 4 US epidemiology journals, American Journal of Epidemiology, Annals of Epidemiology, Epidemiology, and the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology (formerly the Journal of Chronic Diseases), for 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1994. Editors, authors, and reviewers for the selected years. Sex of editors, authors, and reviewers. We identified 2415 reports associated with 8005 authors. One of 7 editors in chief was a woman, a position she shared with a man. For all journals, the proportion of editors who were women ranged from 5 (6.5%) of 77 in 1982 to 42 (16.3%) of 258 in 1994. Over all journals and all years, women comprised a higher proportion of authors (28.7% [2225/7743]) compared with reviewers (26.7% [796/2982]) or editors (12.8% [89/696]). Fewer women in public health hold editorial positions than are authors and reviewers. The reasons for this important discrepancy, including the possibility of a selection bias favoring men, should be further investigated.