Representation of women authorship in the top-cited articles published in the medical imaging literature.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the representation of women among the authors of top-cited articles published in the medical imaging literature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective bibliometric study queried the Web of Science database to identify the top-cited articles (citation number ≥ 300) in the medical imaging literature. The gender of the first and last (senior) authors was determined based on online databases. The year of publication, country of origin, document type, and subspecialty for each article were also collected. We analyzed the proportion of women authors and the relationships between author gender and article characteristics.

RESULTS

Among 596 top-cited articles, women accounted for 132 (22.1%) of first authors and 84 (14.1%) of last authors. Women as last authors were more likely to publish with women first authors compared to male first authors (odds ratio: 1.35). Women's first authorship was significantly more frequent in articles from South Korea (44.4%; phi = 0.095) and in radiation oncology (38.1%; phi = 0.106) and significantly less frequent in articles from France (0.0%; phi = -0.102). Women's last authorship was significantly more frequent in articles from the Netherlands (30.6%; phi = 0.120), in breast (38.9%; phi = 0.126), and in radiation oncology (28.6%; phi = 0.115), and significantly less frequent in nuclear medicine (4.3%; phi = -0.083).

CONCLUSION

Women authors remain underrepresented in top-cited articles published in the medical imaging literature, with country of origin and subspecialty identified as factors of influence.

CRITICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT

Women are still underrepresented among the authors of the top-cited articles in the medical imaging literature. The findings highlight the gender disparities in the highest academic achievement in this biomedical field and provide valuable insight into this ongoing issue.

KEY POINTS

Women authors remain underrepresented in top-cited articles in the medical imaging literature. Women accounted for 22.1% of first authors and 14.1% of last authors. There were variations in the proportion of women authors between countries and subspecialties.