Female authors are scarce in the pages of high-impact journals, according to an online analysis (Y. A. Shen et al. Preprint at bioRxiv http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/275362; 2018). Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle gathered names of first and last authors from papers published between 2005 and 2017 in 15 major science and neuroscience journals, including Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Nature Neuroscience and Neuropsychology Review. Women accounted for roughly 25% of first authors in Nature and Science and just over 35% of first authors in PNAS. Female first authors outnumbered men — by 53% to 47% — in only one journal, Neuropsychology Review. Women represented about 15% of senior or last-author spots in Nature and Science and just under 40% in Neuropsychology Review. The study found an inverse relationship between the prevalence of female authors and the journal’s impact factor: the higher the impact, the lower the proportion of women as first or last authors. Co-author Ione Fine, a neuroscientist, and colleagues suggest that journals could reduce the possibility of bias by adopting mandatory double-blind reviews. Nature Research, which includes all the Nature-branded journals, said that the brand “is committed to gender equality and our journals strive to support women in science”.
- CAREER BRIEF
Women feature only rarely as first or last authors in leading journals
Nature 555, 691 (2018)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-03804-2
Related Articles
-
Too few women authors on research papers in leading journals
-
Blog post: Women edged out of last-named authorships in top journals
Subjects
Latest on:
Jobs
-
Junior Group Leader
The Imagine Institute is a leading European research centre dedicated to genetic diseases, with the primary objective to better understand and trea...
Paris, Ile-de-France (FR)
Imagine Institute
-
Director of the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute of Palacký University Olomouc
The Rector of Palacký University Olomouc announces a Call for the Position of Director of the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute of P...
Czech Republic (CZ)
Palacký University Olomouc
-
Course lecturer for INFH 5000
The HKUST(GZ) Information Hub is recruiting course lecturer for INFH 5000: Information Science and Technology: Essentials and Trends.
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)
-
Suzhou Institute of Systems Medicine Seeking High-level Talents
Full Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor
Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Suzhou Institute of Systems Medicine (ISM)
-
Postdoctoral Fellowships: Early Diagnosis and Precision Oncology of Gastrointestinal Cancers
We currently have multiple postdoctoral fellowship positions within the multidisciplinary research team headed by Dr. Ajay Goel, professor and foun...
Monrovia, California
Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Goel Lab