Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Author Gender and Manuscript Acceptance Rates among Pulmonary and Critical Care Journals
Publication type
journal article
Publication date
2022
Author(s)
Language
English
Discipline(s)
Geographical area
Abstract
RATIONALE: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected women more than men and may influence the publication of non-COVID research. OBJECTIVES: Evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with changes in manuscript acceptance rates among pulmonary/critical care journals, and gender-based disparities in these rates. METHODS: We analyzed first, senior, and corresponding-author gender (female vs. male, identified by matching first names in a validated Genderize database) of manuscripts submitted to four pulmonary/critical care journals between 1/1/18-12/31/20. We constructed interrupted time series regression models to evaluate whether the proportion of female first and senior authors of non-COVID-19 original research manuscripts changed with the pandemic. Next, we performed multivariable logistic regressions to evaluate the association of author gender with acceptance of original research manuscripts. RESULTS: Among 8,332 original research submissions, women comprised 39.9% and 28.3% of first and senior authors, respectively. We found no change in the proportion of female first or senior-authors of non-COVID-19 or COVID-19-submitted research manuscripts during the COVID-era. Non-COVID-19 manuscripts submitted during the COVID-era had reduced odds of acceptance, regardless of author gender (first-author: adjustedOR [aOR]0.46 [95%CI0.36-0.59]; senior-author: aOR0.46 [95%CI0.37-0.57]). Female senior-authorship was associated with decreased acceptance of non-COVID research manuscripts (crude rates: 14.4% [male] vs 13.2% [female]; aOR0.84, 95%CI0.71-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Although female author submissions were not disproportionately influenced by COVID-19, we found evidence suggesting gender disparities in manuscript acceptance rates. Journals may need to consider strategies to reduce this disparity and academic institutions may need to factor our findings, including lower acceptance rates for non-COVID manuscripts, into promotion decisions.
Journal
Annals of the American Thoracic Society
ISSN
2325-6621
Volume
20
Issue
2
Pagination
215-225