Trends in Authorship in Anesthesiology Journals

Area of Science:

• Medical research
• Anesthesiology
• Academic medicine

Background:

• Women remain underrepresented in academic medicine leadership, particularly in anesthesiology.
• Career advancement in academic anesthesiology is linked to research, funding, and publication metrics.
• Authorship, especially first or senior, is a key factor for academic promotion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the prevalence of female first and senior authorship in leading anesthesiology journals.
• To identify trends in female authorship over time and in relation to manuscript characteristics.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective analysis of original research articles published in Anesthesiology and Anesthesia & Analgesia.
• Data collection across four specific years: 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017.
• Assessment of authorship gender, study type, subspecialty, and author count for over 2600 manuscripts.

Main Results:

• Female first authorship increased by 10% and senior authorship by 9% over the study period.
• Women constituted a larger proportion of first authors on papers with female senior authors.
• Female first authors were more prevalent in neuroanesthesia, obstetrical anesthesia, pain management, and pediatric anesthesia subspecialties.

Conclusions:

• There is a discernible increase in female first and senior authorship in prominent anesthesiology journals.
• These findings underscore the importance of monitoring gender-based publication trends to support women's advancement in the field.
• Strategies for recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in anesthesiology can be informed by these publication trends.