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Baobeid A, Faghani-Hamadani T, Sauer S, Boum Y, Hedt-Gauthier BL, Neufeld N, Odhiambo J, Volmink J, Shuchman M, Di Ruggiero E, Condo JU. Gender equity in health research publishing in Africa. BMJ Glob Health 2022; 7:bmjgh-2022-008821. [PMID: 35820714 PMCID: PMC9277026 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-008821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Women researchers find it more difficult to publish in academic journals than men, an inequity that affects women’s careers and was exacerbated during the pandemic, particularly for women in low-income and middle-income countries. We measured publishing by sub-Saharan African (SSA) women in prestigious authorship positions (first or last author, or single author) during the time frame 2014–2016. We also examined policies and practices at journals publishing high rates of women scientists from sub-Saharan Africa, to identify potential structural enablers affecting these women in publishing. Methods The study used Namsor V.2, an application programming interface, to conduct a secondary analysis of a bibliometric database. We also analysed policies and practices of ten journals with the highest number of SSA women publishing in first authorship positions. Results Based on regional analyses, the greatest magnitude of authorship inequity is in papers from sub-Saharan Africa, where men comprised 61% of first authors, 65% of last authors and 66% of single authors. Women from South Africa and Nigeria had greater success in publishing than those from other SSA countries, though women represented at least 20% of last authors in 25 SSA countries. The journals that published the most SSA women as prominent authors are journals based in SSA. Journals with overwhelmingly male leadership are also among those publishing the highest number of SSA women. Conclusion Women scholars in SSA face substantial gender inequities in publishing in prestigious authorship positions in academic journals, though there is a cadre of women research leaders across the region. Journals in SSA are important for local women scholars and the inequities SSA women researchers face are not necessarily attributable to gender discrepancy in journals’ editorial leadership.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anwaar Baobeid
- Centre for Global Health, University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tara Faghani-Hamadani
- Centre for Global Health, University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sara Sauer
- Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Yap Boum
- Epicentre, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | | | - Nicholas Neufeld
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jackline Odhiambo
- School of Public Health and Community Development, Maseno University, Kisumu, Kenya
| | - Jimmy Volmink
- Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Miriam Shuchman
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Erica Di Ruggiero
- Centre for Global Health, University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jeanine U Condo
- National University of Rwanda School of Public Health, Kigali, Rwanda.,Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
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