Trends in Female Authorship Within Urologic Literature: A Comparison of 2012 and 2017.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate trends in female authorship in the recent urologic literature.

METHODS

We examined articles published in 2012 and 2017 from 5 urologic journals: Journal of Urology, Journal of Endourology, Neurourology and Urodynamics, Urologic Oncology, and Urology. Gender was recorded for first, supplemental, and last authors. Articles were further categorized by subspecialty focus of the published article. Chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression modeling were used to assess for differences in female authorship by year, journal, and article subspecialty.

RESULTS

One thousand four hundred and thirty-three and 1374 articles were published in 2012 and 2017, respectively. There was a significant increase in all female authorship categories between years: first (19%-25%), last (12-16%), and any (67%-74%) (P<.01, all). By journal, the highest proportion of articles with any female authors for both years was in Neurourology and Urodynamics (80%, 2012; 85%, 2017) while lowest was in Journal of Endourology (49%, 2012; 54%, 2017). Likewise, female authorship was generally higher in female/voiding dysfunction /incontinence and lower in endourology subspecialty articles. Controlling for journal and subspecialty, multiple logistic regression analysis showed no change in last authorship between years.

CONCLUSION

Overall female authorship in the urologic literature has increased in recent years. However, after controlling for journal and subspecialty we found no increase in female last authorship between years, suggesting that disparities in senior authorships exist based on journal and subspecialty topic. Our findings further suggest an authorship plateau, highlighting the importance of efforts to optimize advancement and promotion of women in academic urology.