Female authorship in major endocrinology journals: a 25-year progression

Abstract

Context: The number of women in academic medicine has increased significantly in recent years. However, female authors are underrepresented in major medical journals. Objective: The aim was to determine the distribution of female first and senior authors of original articles in four American endocrinology journals over a period of 25 years. Design: A retrospective analysis of the literature was undertaken. Setting: Four journals were selected: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism; Thyroid; Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and Diabetes Care. Participants: The first and senior authors of all original articles published in 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2015 were included. Intervention: none. Results: The main outcome measure was the distribution of female first and senior authors of original articles. A total of 4 148 articles were included. Of these, 28.9% (1 199) articles were authored by females of whom 751 (62%) were first authors. Over the study period, there was a shift towards female authorship. A statistically significant trend was observed (p < 0.001).