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Retrospective analysis shows static first author rates for women in orthopedic journals, suggesting a need for senior female mentorship.
Background: Orthopedic surgery is male-dominated, both in residency and leadership. This gender disparity also extends to research authorship. This study analyzes female authorship in top orthopedic journals over five years from 2018 to 2022. We compare female first author rates, senior female author rates, and overall female author counts in the Journal of Arthroplasty, American Journal of Sports Medicine, and Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Methods: A retrospective bibliometric review analyzed articles published from 2018 to 2022 in leading American orthopedic journals: Journal of Arthroplasty, American Journal of Sports Medicine, and Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Using the web-based application Genderize, we determined the gender of each author in each article. ANOVA and chi-squared tests were used to analyze continuous and categorical variables. Multivariate regression identified factors influencing first female authorship. Results: In the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Journal of Arthroplasty, and Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, women comprise between 14.2% and 17.1% of first authors ( P =0.011) . Female first authorship proportion has not significantly changed from 2018 to 2022 ( P =0.074). However, senior female authorship had a noticeable impact on female authorship trends. Average female authors per publication significantly increased from 0.78 to 2.47 ( P <0.001) and the percentage of female authors rose from 12.54% to 47.50% ( P <0.001) under female senior authors. Female senior authors markedly enhance the odds of a female first author (OR: 3.33; 95% CI [2.80, 3.95]; P <0.001). Conclusions: In the past five years, women as first authors in top orthopedic surgery journals have not significantly increased. Senior female authorship and average female authorship notably rose. Female first authors often collaborate more with female senior authors. This highlights female-led mentorship’s role in achieving balanced gender representation in publications. Women supporting women is crucial in achieving equity in authorship and nurturing future female faculty, residents, and medical students in orthopedic surgery.
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Qureshi et al. (2025) studied this question.
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