The following is a summary of “Gender and racial differences in first and senior authorship of high-impact critical care randomized controlled trial studies from 2000 to 2022,” published in the June 2023 issue of Critical Care by Chander et al.
The underrepresentation of women and ethnic minorities in academic publication authorships is due to structural inequalities, discrimination in peer review, and cultural biases. Researchers conducted a retrospective bibliometric study to explore gender and racial/ethnic representation in authorship of critical care randomized controlled trials across 12 influential journals (2000-2022).
The results showed 1,398 randomized controlled trials; the first authors were 24.61% female, and senior authors were 16.6% female. Female authorship increased, yet male dominance persisted (Chi-square trend, P< 0.0001). Author gender linked to education [χ2(4) = 99.2, P< 0.0001] and author’s country [χ2(42) = 70.3,P= 0.0029]. Males dominated in 10 of 12 studied journals [χ2(11) = 110.1, P< 0.0001]. The majority race was White (85.1% women, 85.4% men), then Asians (14.3% each). Non-White authors increased 2000-2022 [χ2(22) = 77.3, P< 0.0001], driven by non-White males. Race tied to the author’s country [χ2(41) = 1107, P< 0.0001], not gender/education.
They concluded addressing disparities requires policy revisions for increased diversity in critical care research.
Source: annalsofintensivecare.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13613-023-01157-2
