Gender Gaps in Publication: Plastic Surgery in Australasia

While studies have explored the gender gap in scientific literature, there is a scarcity of information on the impact within surgical publications. We examine the gender gap in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery papers across two prominent Australasian journals.

All original clinical science articles published in AJOPS and ANZ Journal of Surgery were reviewed from 2018 to 2024. The gender of the first and last authors, as well as the subspecialty category, type of paper, journal volume, year and issue were entered in a database for further analysis. In addition, we examined whether first author gender was correlated to the gender of the senior faculty with whom they were co-authored.

A total of 344 papers met the inclusion criteria for the study. Male authorship was more prevalent accounting for 65% in comparison to female authorship at 35%. When selecting for editorials only, male first authors accounted for 83% (43) versus female first authors at 17% (10). Excluding editorials, male first authorship reached 62% (183) while females made up the remaining 38% (108). In terms of senior authorship, males accounted for 80% (234) versus 20% (59).

Despite some fluctuation, our findings demonstrate a persistent disequilibrium in gender representation in the chosen journals which likely reflects the current disparity in the profession. Whether the increased recruitment and retention of female trainees and surgeons, is gradually translating to publication output, is not entirely understood. Further research is needed to identify and address the barriers to publication experienced by women in plastic surgery.