Women authorship in gastroenterology sustained during early COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Prior data indicate that within procedural specialties, women may be less likely to be first and senior authors of manuscripts during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for studies pertaining to the pandemic. Women are more likely faced with challenges of balancing work and other duties such as household responsibilities and childcare, especially for those who are mothers. The purpose of this study was to determine the gender distribution of authorship of manuscripts in high-impact gastroenterology and hepatology journals during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Manuscripts published between March 1, 2019 to January 1, 2020 and March 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021 in 16 high-impact gastroenterology and hepatology journals were identified using bibliometric data. Genders of first authors and senior authors were determined by matching first names with a predicted gender using a validated multinational database (Genderize.io). Number of women and men first and senior authors, and whether the manuscript was related to COVID-19 were recorded. Comparisons between female first and senior authorship of manuscripts from 2019 and 2020 were analyzed using Fisher exact testing. Results: In 2019, women were first authors of 777 (27.4%) manuscripts and senior authors of 546 (18.4%) manuscripts. In 2020, women were first authors of 999 (28.5%) manuscripts and senior authors of 646 (17.7%) manuscripts. There were no statistically significant differences of women first or senior authorship from 2019 to 2020. During the pandemic, women were first authors of 902 (28.9%) non-COVID-19 related manuscripts and 97 (25.7%) COVID-19 related manuscripts. Women were senior authors of 586 (18.0%) non-COVID-19 related manuscripts and 60 (15.6%) COVID-19 related manuscripts. There were no statistically significant differences of women authorship between non-COVID and COVID related manuscripts. Conclusion: The frequency and proportion of women first and senior authorship in 2020 was comparable to that in 2019. Women maintained scientific productivity in gastroenterology regarding publications in high-impact gastroenterology journals, despite facing increased challenges during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic..