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Gender bias in publications

Systemic investigation of performance of gender-diverse research teams: Scientific publications of mixed-gender teams are substantially more novel and impactful than the publications of more gender-homogeneous teams

Elsevier

Scientific research from gender-diverse teams is more novel and impactful. Research by Yang et al. (2022) analysed the research publications of 3.2 million female and 4.4 million male scientists in more than 15,000 medical science journals from 2000 to 2019. The study reveals that a team’s gender balance is “an under-recognized, yet powerful indicator of novel and impactful scientific discoveries”. Watch Yang Yang's interview about the research on gender-diverse research teams here.

Scientific contributions of women are systematically less frequently recognized

Elsevier

Controlling for, among other things, role, research experience and time spent on a project, researchers at Northeastern University found that women are less likely than men to be credited as authors on articles. The results of a qualitative study within this research suggest that the reason that women are less likely to be credited is because their work is often not known, is not appreciated or is ignored.

The impact of gender on the researcher journey

ElsevierIn a report on how gender impacts different facets of research, Elsevier shows that there are still significant disparities. By analysing information about authors of academic publications, grant recipient and patent applications, Elsevier examined trends in gender-based representation across 15 countries and the EU28. Several indicators reveal that gender disparity still is prevalent, with women having a smaller footprint in the research landscape.

Read Elsevier’s press release for more information, and take a look at their report here.   

Gender bias in the publication process of Chemical Sciences

Chemistry Gender BiasResearch from the Royal Society of Chemistry demonstrates gender bias at every step of the publishing process. This puts female chemists at considerable disadvantage when publishing their research. Read the complete news item here

Meta-Research: Gender inequalities among authors who contributed equally

Broderick Casadevall. Meta ResearchA meta analysis into shared authorship – when two or more authors contribute equally to a published work – has revealed gender inequality among authors differing in gender. In case of mixed gender combinations, male authors more often appear in the first position, a pattern that can't be explained by alphabetical or random choice. Read the full paper here.

 

Broderick, N. A., & Casadevall, A. (2019). Meta-Research: Gender inequalities among authors who contributed equally. Elife, 8, e36399. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.36399