June 28, 2023
Female authorship in drug delivery related journals should increase to better represent the work of female senior authors according to a study done by UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Professor Kristy Ainslie, Ph.D. and Associate Professor Jacqui McLaughlin, Ph.D.
First and last authorship on publications is an important metric of productivity and scholarly success for trainees and professors. McLaughlin and Ainslie found that, based on 11 drug delivery related journals in 2021, scholarly papers were about one and a half times more likely to have a male first author and three times more likely to have a male last author. This frequency of female authorship across these journals translates to 39.5% of the publications with females as first authors and 25.7% of the publications with females as last author. Considering drug delivery encompasses engineering, chemistry and pharmaceutical science disciplines, the 25.7% female last authorship does not represent the percent of professors that are female in these areas, which ranges from 35.5% to 50% internationally.
This difference in authorship becomes more noticeable when the journals become more prestigious or have a higher journal impact factor (JIF). McLaughlin and Ainslie note that there are strongly correlated upward trends for male authors as JIF increases, whereas both first and last female authors have a significant downward trend with increasing JIF. This indicates there maybe bias against female authors, which is underscored by modeling predictions in the publication that indicate female first authors are 22% more likely if the last author is female.
“The two most significant points this paper highlights are related to clear downward trends with female authors as it relates to journal impact, and that female first authors are more likely to have female last authors,” said Kristy Ainslie, Ph.D., chair of the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics and Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor.
Currently, there is a 1% increase each year in female first authorship with male last authorship, which means equality in first authorship could be reached by 2044. The study reveals that the primary barrier to increasing women authors is bias in the peer-review process.
“Hopefully this work can help drive discussions at publishing houses and journals on how to work towards better representing female researchers in the field of drug delivery, particularly at high impact journals,” said Ainslie.
Females are less likely to transition to principal investigators, probably because of reduced credit for their scientific effort, difficulties in acquiring a tenure track position and concerns around motherhood. The study concluded that greater sense of inclusion can help mitigate attrition of talented faculty and trainees.
“Inequities persist in various ways across the biomedical sciences. With this work, we hope to raise awareness specifically about gender disparities and foster discourse that can help promote engagement and excellence for all,” said Jacqui McLaughlin, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and director of the Center for Pharmacy Innovation in Education and Research (CIPhER).
Latest News
Ph.D. student aims to make global impact through vaccine research
