Female and Country Representation on Editorial Boards of Cardiothoracic Surgery Journals
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Published on: May 28, 2010
Camila R Guetter1, Dominique Vervoort2, Jessica G Y Luc3
1Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; School of Medicine, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.
Insights
Editorial boards of cardiothoracic surgery journals show significant underrepresentation of women (10.5%) and individuals from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs, 5.2%). These disparities may hinder academic advancement for underrepresented groups.
Area of Science:
- Cardiothoracic Surgery
- Academic Medicine
- Medical Publishing
Background:
- Editorial board positions are crucial for academic surgeons' career progression.
- Understanding the diversity of editorial boards is essential for equitable representation in scientific publishing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the representation of female and low- and middle-income country (LMIC) members on the editorial boards of cardiothoracic surgery journals.
- To identify potential disparities in representation and their correlation with journal impact factor.
Main Methods:
- Journals in "Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems" from 2019 Journal Citation Reports were identified.
- Editorial board members' sex and country income group (high-income vs. LMIC) were manually reviewed.
- Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were performed using STATA.
Main Results:
- Of 1,970 editorial board members, 10.5% were female and 5.2% were from LMICs.
- Female representation varied widely (0%-29.7%), and only one journal had a female Editor-in-Chief.
- Excluding a country-specific journal, LMIC representation was only 3.7%; a positive correlation existed between female representation and journal impact factor.
Conclusions:
- Editorial boards in cardiothoracic surgery exhibit significant gender and geographic imbalances.
- These disparities may impede inclusive review processes and slow academic advancement for underrepresented groups.
- Societies should actively assess and report on editorial board diversity to address biases and barriers.
Abstract:
Editorial board positions are prestigious and have important implications as gatekeepers for the advancement of academic surgeons. We assessed the composition of editorial boards of cardiothoracic surgery journals to identify female and low- and middle-income country (LMIC) representation. Journals listed as "Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems" in the 2019 InCites Journal Citation Reports (JCR) directory by Clarivate Analytics were manually searched to identify journals pertaining to cardiothoracic surgery. Editorial boards for each journal were reviewed as available on journal websites, assessing for sex and country income group (high-income country vs. LMIC) of editorial board members. Descriptive statistics were performed, and differences were assessed through t tests and correlations using STATA version 14. Twenty-two cardiothoracic journals were identified, of which 16 were listed on JCR and 6 were sister journals. A total of 1,970 editorial board members were identified, of whom 206 (10.5%) were female and 103 (5.2%) from LMICs (each, p < 0.001). Female representation varied between 0% and 29.7% across journals. There were 391 associate and deputy editors, 62 (15.9%) were female and 15 (3.8%) from LMICs (each, p < 0.001). Only 1 (4.5%) of the 22 journals had a female Editor-in-Chief. A total of 15 LMICs were represented: Brazil (56 members), China (11 members), and India (11 members). LMIC representation varied between 0% and 76.6% (Brazilian Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery), with the second highest representation being only 16.33%. After excluding the Brazilian Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery (the only country-specific journal), LMIC representation was only 3.7% on editorial boards. The intersection between female sex and LMIC origin was found in only three editorial board members. A statistically significant positive correlation was seen between percentage of females in editorial boards and journal impact factor (r= 0.769, p < 0.001). No correlation was seen between percentage of LMIC in boards and impact factor (r = -0.306, p = 0.250). Our findings suggest editorial boards of cardiothoracic surgery journals remain highly imbalanced in terms of sex and country income group. Disparities in editorial boards may further result in less inclusive review processes, which may lead to fewer publications and slower academic advancement by underrepresented groups. Societies should partake in active assessment and reporting of disparities across their editorial boards as well as assessment of implicit biases and barriers impeding female and LMIC researchers from joining their boards.
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