Gender trends in emergency medicine publications

In recent years, the number of women entering the field of emergency medicine (EM) has increased.

To determine if authorship in EM publications has increased in parallel with this trend.

The gender of first and last authors of EM articles in Academic Emergency Medicine, American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Annals of Emergency Medicine, and Journal of Emergency Medicine were examined. The authors reviewed articles from 1985, 1995, and 2005 for American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Annals of Emergency Medicine, and Journal of Emergency Medicine and from 1999 and 2005 for Academic Emergency Medicine. The primary outcomes were the proportions of female authors.

A total of 2,016 articles were reviewed. Overall, 18% of first and last authors were female. Respectively, for 1985, 1995, 1999, and 2005, the proportions of female first authors were 9%, 15%, 19%, and 24%; the proportions of female last authors were 9%, 18%, 19%, and 22%. The trend of increases in female authorship was statistically significant.

Although female authorship remains a minority in EM publications, it has increased significantly in parallel with increases in female participation in EM.