How Diverse Is Medicinal Chemistry? Insights into Race, Ethnicity, Origin, Gender, and Geography

A bibliometric study of authors across medicinal chemistry journals over 20 years reveals important trends. Most United States (US) based authors are assigned as racially/ethnically Asian or White; few are Black or Hispanic. More US coauthors have the same race/ethnicity as the corresponding author than expected. The percentage of female authors increased globally, but only slowly. Since 2010, the number of female and male authors declined by 9% and 30%, respectively. Geographically, most authors are male except in Italy where there is gender balance. Gender homophily is observed globally. Geographically, the discipline is now more widely practiced. Article output doubled from 2000 to 2010 with a large increase in articles from China. China excepted, output has since declined. The average number of authors per article rose by a third since 2000. The value of high diversity groups in education, research, and industry cannot be overstated. We recommend diversity is addressed by every medicinal chemist.