July 2019
Volume 60, Issue 9
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   July 2019
Gender Representation on Ophthalmic Journal Editorial Boards
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Mona Lotfipour Camacci
    Ophthalmology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Amy Lu
    Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Michael Langue
    Ophthalmology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Adeline Answine
    Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Esther M Bowie
    Ophthalmology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Erik Lehman
    Public Health Sciences, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Heshey, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Ingrid U Scott
    Ophthalmology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States
    Public Health Sciences, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Heshey, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Seth Pantanelli
    Ophthalmology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Mona Camacci, None; Amy Lu, None; Michael Langue, None; Adeline Answine, None; Esther Bowie, None; Erik Lehman, None; Ingrid Scott, Thrombogenics (S); Seth Pantanelli, Carl Zeiss Meditec (C)
  • Footnotes
    Support  None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science July 2019, Vol.60, 5490. doi:
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      Mona Lotfipour Camacci, Amy Lu, Michael Langue, Adeline Answine, Esther M Bowie, Erik Lehman, Ingrid U Scott, Seth Pantanelli; Gender Representation on Ophthalmic Journal Editorial Boards. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2019;60(9):5490.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Purpose : The number of women in medicine has increased over the past four decades. However, women remain under-represented in leadership positions; for example, on the editorial boards of academic journals. Most recent data from the Association of American Medical Collages (AAMC) shows that 24% of practicing ophthalmologists are women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender composition of editorial board membership of scientific journals in the field of ophthalmology, and to compare the publication productivity and citation impact of male compared to female board members.

Methods : SCImago Journal Rank indicator (SJR2) was used to determine the highest ranked twenty ophthalmology journals. The editorial board members of each journal in 2018 were identified from the journal’s official website. The gender of individuals who serve in editorial board positions was recorded. The Scopus database was then used to find each editorial board member’s h-index (a measure of both the productivity and citation impact of the publications of an author), calculated based on the highest number of papers that have had at least the same number of citations. Each board member’s m-quotient, which accounts for varying lengths of academic careers, was calculated by dividing the h-index by the number of years since first publication.

Results : Of the 859 ophthalmologists who comprise the editorial boards of the highest ranked 20 ophthalmology journals, 639 (74.4%) are men and 220 (25.6%) are women (Figure 1); all of the editor-in-chiefs are men. The h-index among men (mean 36.3 ± 18.3, median 34.0) was significantly higher than that among women (mean 31.1 ± 15.9, median 28; p < 0.001); however, there was no significant difference between the genders with respect to the mean m-quotient (mean 1.2 ± 0.6, median 1.2 in men; mean 1.2 ± 0.5, median 1.1 in women; p = 0.444).

Conclusions : Although gender representation on the editorial boards of the 20 highest ranked ophthalmology journals is approximately consistent with the gender distribution of ophthalmologists in the United States, none of the editor-in-chief positions are held by women. While the male editorial board members have a higher mean h-index compared to women, the mean m-quotient, which accounts for varying lengths of academic careers, were comparable between the genders.

This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.

 

Figure 1. Gender composition of the twenty highest ranked ophthalmology publications. SJR = SCImago Journal Rank.

Figure 1. Gender composition of the twenty highest ranked ophthalmology publications. SJR = SCImago Journal Rank.

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