Systematic analysis of authorship demographics in global surgery
Open Access
- 19 October 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by BMJ in BMJ Global Health
- Vol. 6 (10), e006672
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006672
Abstract
Background Global surgery has recently gained prominence as an academic discipline within global health. Authorship inequity has been a consistent feature of global health publications, with over-representation of authors from high-income countries (HICs), and disenfranchisement of researchers from low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this study, we investigated authorship demographics within recently published global surgery literature. Methods We performed a systematic analysis of author characteristics, including gender, seniority and institutional affiliation, for global surgery studies published between 2016 and 2020 and indexed in the PubMed database. We compared the distribution of author gender and seniority across studies related to different topics; between authors affiliated with HICs and LMICs; and across studies with different authorship networks. Results 1240 articles were included for analysis. Most authors were male (60%), affiliated only with HICs (51%) and of high seniority (55% were fully qualified specialist or generalist clinicians, Principal Investigators, or in senior leadership or management roles). The proportion of male authors increased with increasing seniority for last and middle authors. Studies related to Obstetrics and Gynaecology had similar numbers of male and female authors, whereas there were more male authors in studies related to surgery (69% male) and Anaesthesia and Critical care (65% male). Compared with HIC authors, LMIC authors had a lower proportion of female authors at every seniority grade. This gender gap among LMIC middle authors was reduced in studies where all authors were affiliated only with LMICs. Conclusion Authorship disparities are evident within global surgery academia. Remedial actions to address the lack of authorship opportunities for LMIC authors and female authors are required.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- On the meaning of global health and the role of global health journalsInternational Health, 2018
- Inequalities in global health inequalities research: A 50-year bibliometric analysis (1966-2015)PLOS ONE, 2018
- Authorship in paediatric research conducted in low‐ and middle‐income countries: parity or parasitism?Tropical Medicine & International Health, 2017
- Equity in global health research in the new millennium: trends in first-authorship for randomized controlled trials among low- and middle-income country researchers 1990-2013International Journal of Epidemiology, 2016
- Published randomized trials performed in Sub-Saharan Africa focus on high-burden diseases but are frequently funded and led by high-income countriesJournal of Clinical Epidemiology, 2016
- Good and Bad Research Collaborations: Researchers’ Views on Science and Ethics in Global Health ResearchPLOS ONE, 2016
- Local and foreign authorship of maternal health interventional research in low- and middle-income countries: systematic mapping of publications 2000–2012Globalization and Health, 2016
- Trends and comparison of female first authorship in high impact medical journals: observational study (1994-2014)BMJ, 2016
- Global Surgery 2030: evidence and solutions for achieving health, welfare, and economic developmentThe Lancet, 2015