Orthopaedic Research Consortiums: A Review of Scope, Sex and Racial Representation

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Medical Research Collaborations
• Research Demographics

Background:

• Collaborative research groups and consortiums are increasingly common across medical and surgical specialties.
• Understanding the composition of these groups is crucial for assessing inclusivity and identifying potential disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess and describe collaborative research groups and consortiums within orthopaedic surgery.
• To define the demographics of research consortium members, focusing on female and minority representation.

Main Methods:

• Journals with musculoskeletal/orthopaedic focus were screened for articles published by research groups/consortiums from 2020-2022.
• Bibliographic and author information, including sex and race, were manually reviewed for identified consortium members.
• Level of evidence (LOE) for publications was recorded.

Main Results:

• 92 research consortiums were identified, with 2,260 researchers detailed in 77 groups.
• The majority of researchers were male (77.3%) and white (75%).
• Women served as lead authors in 23% of publications and senior authors in 11.1%; non-white researchers were lead authors in 24.5% and senior authors in 17.2%.

Conclusions:

• Representation of women in orthopaedic research consortiums appears higher than in some professional societies.
• Further investigation is needed to compare under-represented minority (URM) involvement and identify strategies to improve gender and racial diversity in orthopaedic research.