Assessing gender balance among journal authors and editorial board members

Abstract

The study of journal authorship and editorial board membership from a gender perspective is addressed in this paper following international recommendations about the need to obtain science and technology indicators by gender. Authorship informs us about active scientists who contribute to the production and dissemination of new knowledge through journal articles, while editorial board membership tells us about leading scientists who have obtained scientific recognition within the scientific community. This study analyses by gender the composition of the editorial boards of 131 high-quality Spanish journals in all fields of science, the presence of men and women as authors in a selection of 36 journals, and the evolution of these aspects from 1998 to 2009. Female presence is lower than male presence in authorship, editorial board membership and editorship. The presence of female authors is slightly lower than the presence of women in the Spanish Higher Education sector and doubles female presence in editorial boards, which mirrors female presence in the highest academic rank. The gender gap tends to diminish over the years in most areas, especially in authorship and very slightly in editorial board membership. Large editorial boards and having a female editor-in-chief are positively correlated with women presence in editorial boards. The situation of women in Spanish science is further assessed in an international context analysing a selection of international reference journals. The usefulness of journal-based indicators to monitor the situation of men and women in science and to assess the success of policies oriented to enhance gender equality in science is finally discussed.

Women are underrepresented on the editorial boards of journals in environmental biology and natural resource management

“…The editorial boards of scientific journals act as gatekeepers that help maintain the 45" scientific integrity and standards of a journal as well as identify emerging and innovative areas of 46" research (Addis & Villa 2003;Mauleon et al 2013). An invitation to serve as a Subject Editor is 47" recognition that a scholar is respected in his or her discipline; it is also the path towards editorial 48" leadership because Associate Editors and Editors-in-Chief are typically selected from the Subject 49"…”

Male Presence in Gender Research Networks in the Communication Field in Spain

“…The proportion of women and men who study the gender perspective is very unequal: 72% of the authors are women, while the overall proportion in Spanish journals in all fields is 37% (Mauleón et al, 2013), which initially denotes greater interest on the part of women in this kind of research.…”

Women are underrepresented on editorial boards

“…The editorial boards of scientific journals act as gatekeepers that help maintain the scientific 26" integrity and standards of a journal as well as identify emerging and innovative areas of research 27" (Addis and Villa 2003, Mauleon et al 2013). An invitation to serve as a Subject Editor is 28" recognition that a scholar is respected in his or her discipline; it is also the path towards editorial 29" leadership because Associate Editors and Editors-in-Chief are typically selected from the 30" editorial board.…”