Gender Authorship Trends Among Craniofacial Publications: A 20-Year Analysis

This study aims to identify gender disparities within the subspecialty of craniofacial surgery as women surgeons remain underrepresented in academia and leadership, arenas heavily dictated by research productivity.

All craniofacial articles published in 3 major research journals from 2000 to 2020 were reviewed and evaluated in 5-year increments.

Information regarding author gender, authorship distribution, geographic origin, and publication type was collected. ANOVA, χ², and logistic regression modeling were used for analysis.

In total, there were 3684 articles with 15 206 total authors-3128 (20.6%) were women, including 665 (21.3%) first authors, 1980 (63.2%) middle authors, and 487 (15.7%) senior authors. Mean women authorship increased significantly from 2000 to 2020 (0.33 vs 1.22 P < .001) with corresponding significant increases in first and senior authorship (8.63% vs 27.02; 5.65% vs 16.13%; P < .001). Statistically significant trends across time were observed for first and senior authorships (P < .001). Women were more likely to publish original publications as first and senior authors (OR: 1.83, P < .001; OR: 1.37, P = .0012). Women were less likely to publish editorial articles (OR 0.6, P < .001). The United States ranked third in publication output by female first authors but was behind all regions except Africa for output by female senior authors.

Although female authorship has increased significantly over the last 2 decades, women remain a minority within the craniofacial literature. Further research is needed to elicit the root of these disparities.