Female representation on editorial boards of leading ophthalmology journals

Purpose

To assess the gender distribution of editorial board members of the leading ophthalmology journals according to SCImago Journal and Country Rank (SJR).

Methods

To evaluate the editorial boards of the ophthalmological journals in category Q1 of the SJR in a cross-sectional study. The primary outcome measured was the proportion of women as editor-in-chief and editorial board members. For the top 10 journals, the internal composition of the editorial board was analyzed and classified into four categories. The study was performed in Oftalmosalud Instituto de Ojos, Lima, Peru, from July to October 2022. In addition, the authors analyzed the women’s participation in previous years as editorial board members.

Results

Thirty-two ophthalmology journals were classified within the Q1 category. Female representation as editor-in-chief of Q1 ophthalmology journals was 14.63% (6/41) and as part of the editorial board was 32.9% (122/371). In the top 10 ophthalmology journals, none of the editors-in-chief (Category I) was a woman (p < .001); 11% (11/100) in category II (p < .001), 38.42% (88/229) in Category III (p < .001), and 32.25% (10/31) in category IV (p = 0.07) were women. There was no significant correlation between the percentage of female representation and the SJR (r = 0.32, p = 0.07).

Conclusion

Women are underrepresented among editorial board members of the leading ophthalmological journals and this disparity is greater in senior positions. However, there has been an increase in participation through the years.