Is there a Matilda Effect in Communication Journals?

Abstract

The Matilda Effect (ME) predicts women scholars are less likely to be rewarded than men scholars with comparable accomplishments. One manifestation of the ME is bias in relation to citations to an author’s work as a function of gender. ME was tested in eight communication journals for 10 publishing years (2002–2006, 2012–2016). Mixed results were found across 3,324 articles with two journals exhibiting ME effects among the eight examined. For a subset of six journals, men were more likely to cite their own work compared to women. Findings across datasets showed three analyses were statistically significant and two were not significant. Study findings are discussed and it was suggested future research examine a greater number of journals.