Women authorship in Latin American pediatric journals. A 35 years analysis

Abstract

Background: Women authorship in scientific publication is still limited, especially in hierarchical positions.

Objective: To analyze the participation of women as authors in Latin American pediatric publications and its variation over 35 years.

Methods: All articles from Archivos Argentinos de Pediatria, Jornal de Pediatria, and Revista Chilena de Pediatria from the analyzed years (1985, 1995, 2005, 2015, 2020) were identified, calculating the proportion of women as authors, and as first and last author. For each variable, changes in the studied period were evaluated  (X2 for trend).

Results: We evaluated 1860 articles (6039 authors). After a significant increase during the analyzed period , in 2020, 59.1% of the co-authors, 59.7% of the first and 44.4% of the last authors were women.

Conclusion: The proportion of women authors in Latin American pediatric journals has increased in 35 years, reaching 59.1%. However, their participation in prestigious areas is still limited.