Mahajan Uma V, Wadhwa Harsh, Fatemi Parastou, Xu Samantha, Shan Judy, Benzil Deborah L, Zygourakis Corinna C
1School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
2Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
J Neurosurg. 2021 Aug 1;135(2):352-360. doi: 10.3171/2020.6.JNS20902. Epub 2020 Nov 13.
Publications are key for advancement within academia. Although women are underrepresented in academic neurosurgery, the rates of women entering residency, achieving board certification, and publishing papers are increasing. The goal of this study was to assess the current status of women in academic neurosurgery publications. Specifically, this study sought to 1) survey female authorship rates in the Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS [not including JNS: Spine or JNS: Pediatrics]) and Neurosurgery from 2010 to 2019; 2) analyze whether double-blind peer review (started in Neurosurgery in 2011) altered female authorship rates relative to single-blind review (JNS); and 3) evaluate how female authorship rates compared with the number of women entering neurosurgery residency and obtaining neurosurgery board certification.
Genders of the first and last authors for JNS and Neurosurgery articles from 2010 to 2019 were obtained. Data were also gathered on the number and percentage of women entering neurosurgery residency and women obtaining American Board of Neurological Surgeons (ABNS) certification between 2010 and 2019.
Women accounted for 13.4% (n = 570) of first authors and 6.8% (n = 240) of last authors in JNS and Neurosurgery publications. No difference in rates of women publishing existed between the two journals (first authors: 13.0% JNS vs 13.9% Neurosurgery, p = 0.29; last authors: 7.3% JNS vs 6.0% Neurosurgery, p = 0.25). No difference existed between women first or last authors in Neurosurgery before and after initiation of double-blind review (p = 0.066). Significant concordance existed between the gender of first and last authors: in publications with a woman last author, the odds of the first author being a woman was increased by twofold (OR 2.14 [95% CI 1.43-3.13], p = 0.0001). Women represented a lower proportion of authors of invited papers (8.6% of first authors and 3.1% of last authors were women) compared with noninvited papers (14.1% of first authors and 7.4% of last authors were women) (first authors: OR 0.576 [95% CI 0.410-0.794], p = 0.0004; last authors: OR 0.407 [95% CI 0.198-0.751], p = 0.001). The proportion of women US last authors (7.4%) mirrors the percentage of board-certified women neurosurgeons (5.4% in 2010 and 6.8% in 2019), while the percentage of women US first authors (14.3%) is less than that for women entering neurosurgical residency (11.2% in 2009 and 23.6% in 2018).
This is the first report of female authorship in the neurosurgical literature. The authors found that single- versus double-blind peer review did not impact female authorship rates at two top neurosurgical journals.
学术成果发表是学术界晋升的关键。尽管女性在学术神经外科领域的代表性不足，但进入住院医师培训、获得委员会认证以及发表论文的女性比例正在上升。本研究的目的是评估女性在学术神经外科出版物中的现状。具体而言，本研究旨在：1）调查2010年至2019年《神经外科杂志》（JNS[不包括JNS：脊柱或JNS：儿科]）和《神经外科》杂志上的女性作者比例；2）分析双盲同行评审（2011年在《神经外科》杂志开始）相对于单盲评审（JNS）是否改变了女性作者比例；3）评估女性作者比例与进入神经外科住院医师培训以及获得神经外科委员会认证的女性人数之间的比较情况。
获取2010年至2019年JNS和《神经外科》杂志文章的第一作者和最后作者的性别。还收集了2010年至2019年进入神经外科住院医师培训的女性人数和百分比以及获得美国神经外科委员会（ABNS）认证的女性人数和百分比的数据。
在JNS和《神经外科》杂志的出版物中，女性占第一作者的13.4%（n = 570），占最后作者的6.8%（n = 240）。两本杂志之间女性发表率没有差异（第一作者：JNS为13.0%，《神经外科》为13.9%，p = 0.29；最后作者：JNS为7.3%，《神经外科》为6.0%，p = 0.25）。在《神经外科》杂志中，双盲评审开始前后女性第一作者或最后作者的比例没有差异（p = 0.066）。第一作者和最后作者的性别之间存在显著一致性：在有女性最后作者的出版物中，第一作者为女性的几率增加了两倍（OR 2.14[95%CI 1.43 - 3.13]，p = 0.0001）。与非受邀论文相比，受邀论文的女性作者比例较低（第一作者中女性占8.6%，最后作者中女性占3.1%）（第一作者：OR 0.576[95%CI 0.410 - 0.794]，p = 0.0004；最后作者：OR 0.407[95%CI 0.198 - 0.751]，p = 0.001）。美国女性最后作者的比例（7.4%）与获得委员会认证的女性神经外科医生的比例（2010年为5.4%，2019年为6.8%）相符，而美国女性第一作者的比例（14.3%）低于进入神经外科住院医师培训的女性比例（2009年为11.2%，2018年为23.6%）。
这是神经外科文献中关于女性作者情况的首次报告。作者发现，单盲与双盲同行评审对两家顶级神经外科杂志的女性作者比例没有影响。
