Although women’s participation in research has increased significantly over the past two decades, a new study led by top leaders at Springer Nature has found persistent gender disparities among the representation of corresponding author submissions in Nature Portfolio journals. However, despite their underrepresentation in submissions, women are just as likely as their male peers to have their articles accepted.
Overseen by Magdalena Skipper, editor-in-chief of Nature, and Deborah Sweet, executive vice president of journals for Nature Portfolio, the study includes self-reported gender data for corresponding authors and manuscript reviewers for Nature, Nature research journals, Nature review journals, Nature Communications, Communication Series journals, and npj Series journals between January 2023 and April 2024.
Across all format types and disciplines, women represent only 18.1 percent of all corresponding authors of original research submissions to Nature Portfolio journals. Additionally, women were significantly less likely then men to appeal editorial decisions. However, women’s representation in authorship increased to 23.3 percent for review articles, suggesting commissioning efforts could help improve gender equity in published research.
Among specific disciplines, women’s corresponding author submission rates for original research were the highest in psychology (32.2 percent), medicine and public health (22.9 percent), and life sciences (22.0 percent). The lowest rates were in materials science and engineering (12.2 percent), chemistry (10.3 percent), and physics (10.1 percent).
Additionally, women corresponding authors were found to be more likely to submit their research to less selective journals. In npj Series journals, women’s share of corresponding authors was 23.2 percent, compared to 15.3 percent in Nature.
Notably, the authors found no evidence of negative bias toward women corresponding authors in the editorial and peer review process. Across Nature Portfolio journals, women corresponding authors are slightly more likely than their male counterparts to have their manuscript sent out to review (28.7 percent versus 26.7 percent). The authors also found similar acceptance rates for women and men (14.9 percent versus 13.9 percent), suggesting editorial decisions are not gender biased. Women authors also had higher acceptance rates when they had a mixed-gendered panel of reviewers.
Aligned with their earlier findings on research submissions, the authors found women corresponding authors were more likely to have a review article accepted than an original research manuscript. This was the case across all disciplines, including fields such as physics and engineering, where women’s representation within the research community is relatively lower.
Regarding reviewer panels, most academic fields had a higher percentage of women reviewers compared to women authors at submission, suggesting efforts to diversify academic peer reviewers are increasing women’s participation in the review process. Similarly, the top 20 countries by publishing volume show a higher representation of women authors for review articles and a higher representation of women reviewers.
Based on their findings, the authors highlight two key opportunities for editors and publishers to positively impact gender diversity in their journals: continuing to invite women to contribute review articles and serve as peer reviewers. They also mention steps Nature Portfolio is taking internally to address gender disparities in publishing, such as advancing research and raising awareness on gender disparities, increasing participation among diverse and early-career researchers, and adapting journal policies to be more supportive of inclusive research.