Author diversity in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 1958–2025

Abstract

We used application programming interfaces (APIs) to estimate gender and race/ethnicity based on names of first and last authors in 4,833 articles published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) from 1958 to 2025. From the first to the most recent 5-year interval, Gender API estimated that the percentage of articles with women first authors increased from 6% to 33% and the percentage of first authors Ethnicolr API classified as more likely than not to be authors of color (AOC) increased from 5% to 25%, with similar gains in percentages of last authors estimated to be women or AOC. The proportion of names classified as feminine and as less likely to be White has grown steadily, but even after two-thirds of a century of growth, these groups are underrepresented relative to the U.S. adult population, college graduates working in science-related fields, and higher education faculty. These findings underscore the need for ongoing efforts to address systemic barriers and promote equitable representation in scholarly publishing.