Gender disparity between authors in leading medical journals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional review

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051224

Review

. 2021 Jul 14;11(7):e051224.

doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051224.

Gender disparity between authors in leading medical journals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional review

Vaidehi Misra¹, Frozan Safi², Kathryn A Brewerton², Wei Wu¹, Robin Mason^{1 3 4}, An-Wen Chan^{1 2 5 6}, Paula A Rochon^{1 2 5 6}, Iliana C Lega^#^{1 2 5}, Husam Abdel-Qadir^#^{7 2 5 6 8}

Affiliations

¹ Women's College Research Institute (WCRI), Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ ICES, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation (IHPME), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁷ Women's College Research Institute (WCRI), Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada h.abdel.qadir@utoronto.ca.
⁸ Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC), University Health Network (UHN), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 34261692
PMCID: PMC8282422
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051224

Review

Gender disparity between authors in leading medical journals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional review

Vaidehi Misra et al. BMJ Open.2021.

. 2021 Jul 14;11(7):e051224.

doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051224.

Authors

Vaidehi Misra¹, Frozan Safi², Kathryn A Brewerton², Wei Wu¹, Robin Mason^{1 3 4}, An-Wen Chan^{1 2 5 6}, Paula A Rochon^{1 2 5 6}, Iliana C Lega^#^{1 2 5}, Husam Abdel-Qadir^#^{7 2 5 6 8}

Affiliations

¹ Women's College Research Institute (WCRI), Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ ICES, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation (IHPME), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁷ Women's College Research Institute (WCRI), Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada h.abdel.qadir@utoronto.ca.
⁸ Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC), University Health Network (UHN), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 34261692
PMCID: PMC8282422
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051224

Abstract

Objectives: Evaluate gender differences in authorship of COVID-19 articles in high-impact medical journals compared with other topics.

Design: Cross-sectional review.

Data sources: Medline database.

Eligibility criteria: Articles published from 1 January to 31 December 2020 in the seven leading general medical journals by impact factor. Article types included primary research, reviews, editorials and commentaries.

Data extraction: Key data elements were whether the study topic was related to COVID-19 and names of the principal and the senior authors. A hierarchical approach was used to determine the likely gender of authors. Logistic regression assessed the association of study characteristics, including COVID-19 status, with authors' likely gender; this was quantified using adjusted ORs (aORs).

Results: We included 2252 articles, of which 748 (33.2%) were COVID-19-related and 1504 (66.8%) covered other topics. A likely gender was determined for 2138 (94.9%) principal authors and 1890 (83.9%) senior authors. Men were significantly more likely to be both principal (1364 men; 63.8%) and senior (1332 men; 70.5%) authors. COVID-19-related articles were not associated with the odds of men being principal (aOR 0.99; 95% CI 0.81 to 1.21; p=0.89) or senior authors (aOR 0.96; 95% CI 0.78 to 1.19; p=0.71) relative to other topics. Articles with men as senior authors were more likely to have men as principal authors (aOR 1.49; 95% CI 1.21 to 1.83; p<0.001). Men were more likely to author articles reporting original research and those with corresponding authors based outside the USA and Europe.

Conclusions: Women were substantially under-represented as authors among articles in leading medical journals; this was not significantly different for COVID-19-related articles. Study limitations include potential for misclassification bias due to the name-based analysis. Results suggest that barriers to women's authorship in high-impact journals during COVID-19 are not significantly larger than barriers that preceded the pandemic and that are likely to continue beyond it.

Prospero registration number: CRD42020186702.

Keywords: COVID-19; education & training (see medical education & training); journalism (see medical journalism); medical education & training; medical journalism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Principal authors’ likely genders identified among non-COVID-19 and COVID-19-related publications (submitted as separate file).

**Figure 2**
Senior authors’ likely genders identified among non-COVID-19-related and COVID-19-related publications (submitted as separate file).

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

1. Islam N, Sharp SJ, Chowell G, et al. . Physical distancing interventions and incidence of coronavirus disease 2019: natural experiment in 149 countries. BMJ 2020;370:370. 10.1136/bmj.m2743 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
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1. Alon TM, Doepke M, Olmstead-Rumsey J. The impact of COVID-19 on gender equality National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) - Working Paper Series; 2020. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26947/w26947.pdf
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[1] Islam N, Sharp SJ, Chowell G, et al. . Physical distancing interventions and incidence of coronavirus disease 2019: natural experiment in 149 countries. BMJ 2020;370:370. 10.1136/bmj.m2743 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[2] Islam N, Sharp SJ, Chowell G, et al. . Physical distancing interventions and incidence of coronavirus disease 2019: natural experiment in 149 countries. BMJ 2020;370:370. 10.1136/bmj.m2743 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[3] Prem K, Liu Y, Russell TW, et al. . The effect of control strategies to reduce social mixing on outcomes of the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan, China: a modelling study. Lancet Public Health 2020;5:e261–70. 10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30073-6 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[4] Prem K, Liu Y, Russell TW, et al. . The effect of control strategies to reduce social mixing on outcomes of the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan, China: a modelling study. Lancet Public Health 2020;5:e261–70. 10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30073-6 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[5] Alon TM, Doepke M, Olmstead-Rumsey J. The impact of COVID-19 on gender equality National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) - Working Paper Series; 2020. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26947/w26947.pdf

[6] Alon TM, Doepke M, Olmstead-Rumsey J. The impact of COVID-19 on gender equality National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) - Working Paper Series; 2020. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26947/w26947.pdf

[7] Wenham C, Smith J, Morgan R. COVID-19: the gendered impacts of the outbreak. The Lancet 2020;395:846–8. 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30526-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Wenham C, Smith J, Morgan R. COVID-19: the gendered impacts of the outbreak. The Lancet 2020;395:846–8. 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30526-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] King MM, Frederickson M. The pandemic penalty: the gendered effects of COVID-19 on scientific productivity. Socius 2020;7:23780231211006977.

[10] King MM, Frederickson M. The pandemic penalty: the gendered effects of COVID-19 on scientific productivity. Socius 2020;7:23780231211006977.

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Gender disparity between authors in leading medical journals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional review

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Gender disparity between authors in leading medical journals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional review

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