Mea culpa: so how does HERstory look in my HIStory?

The underrepresentation of female individuals as research participants and manuscript authors is a longstanding issue in science in general and in the discipline of applied and exercise physiology. Over my ∼50 yr as an investigator, mentor, author, manuscript reviewer, and journal editor, my decisions obviously impacted these trends. To determine whether I was part of the problem or the solution, I audited my entire publication history and compared the results to a 50% aspirational census-based goal and to the composite across the histories of three leading exercise/applied physiology journals. A total of 10,706 individuals were included in my 203 human studies-49.8% were female individuals versus 42.5% female research participants for the other three journals. Forty percent of my studies had female research participants, which is above the composite 35% for the other journals. Of my single sex studies, 23% included female participants, which is above the 15% for the three journals. The authors on my articles are 16% female individuals, which is below the composite 23% for the other journals. Thus, except for the inclusion of female research participants in my studies, I have contributed to the ongoing problem and not the solution to the underrepresentation of female individuals in the discipline of exercise/applied physiology. It remains for each of us to do some introspective thinking relative to this ongoing issue because the decisions to rectify this situation have to come from individuals who choose to address this issue directly in their research programs.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Female individuals are underrepresented as participants and authors in applied/exercise physiology studies. Over my 50 yr in the field, my decisions obviously impacted these trends. Reviewing my entire publication history, except for including female research participants, I have contributed to this problem over the course of my career. It remains for each of us to look inside ourselves to determine whether we want to be part of the solution or part of the problem.