Female authorship in major academic gastroenterology journals: a look over 20 years

Background: Authorship in peer-reviewed medical journals is a marker for success in academic medicine. Objective: To determine the representation of female physicians among authors of original research in U.S. gastroenterology journals. Design: Retrospective. Subjects: All first and senior U.S. authors of original research published in the years 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012 in the following journals: Gastroenterology, Hepatology, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (CGH), and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (GIE). Main Outcome Measurements: The percentage of female first and senior authors compared with the percentage of women practicing in academic gastroenterology. Results: We evaluated 6490 articles, of which 2275 original research articles and 455 editorials were eligible for inclusion. Author gender was determined for 98.5% of the 3792 authors. Overall, female first authors increased from 9.1 +/- 2.9% in 1992 to 29.3 +/- 4.9% in 2012 (P < .0001), and female senior authors increased from 4.8 +/- 2.3% in 1992 to 14.5 +/- 3.6% in 2012 (P < .0001). Female first and senior authors increased significantly in all journals (P for trend < .05), except for CGH, and CGH and GIE, respectively. For each of the years examined with the exception of 1997, the proportion of women in the senior author position was less than expected based on the proportion of women among academic gastroenterologists (P < .004; P = .18 for 1997). Limitations: Descriptive study. Conclusions: The percentage of U.S. female physician authors of original research in major gastroenterology journals has increased over time, yet the percentage of women in the senior author position remains lower than expected. Further research should explore potential reasons for this gender gap.