Rationale and Objectives
Underrepresentation of women in many scientific fields has been linked to biases against
female-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals, thereby reducing their opportunities
for career development and promotions. The objective of this study is to determine
the representation of female academic radiologists in four flagship general radiology
journals to elucidate gender-specific trends and disparities in academic radiology.
Materials and Methods
We analyzed 23,741 peer-reviewed articles published in Radiology, American Journal of Roentgenology, Journal of the American College of Radiology
and Academic Radiology from 2007 to 2020. Data abstraction and statistical analysis were performed for author
gender, first and last authorship, research funding, and number of citations and grants.
Baseline demographics data of academic radiologists was obtained from the Association
of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Results
A total of 72.4% of authors were male with 54% of articles were written by a male
first author and male last author. When compared with assumed random pairing, there
were significantly fewer Male/Female author combinations and more Female/Female author
combinations than expected (p<0.01). Over the 13-year time period, the rate of increase in the number of female
authors exceeded the rate of increase in women in academic radiology as reported by
the AAMC. Female last authors received on average 3.2 less citations than their male
counterparts (p=.03). Of manuscripts with last female authors, 31.7% of female last authors were
funded compared to 25.9% of last male authors.
Conclusion
This study showed the increasing numbers and higher productivity of female authors
in academic radiology, suggesting progress is being made in overcoming gender disparities.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 21, 2022
Accepted:
October 31,
2022
Received in revised form:
October 19,
2022
Received:
September 19,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
