Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology Publications

PURPOSE Authorship gender disparities persist across academic disciplines, including oncology. However, little is known about global variation in authorship gender distribution. METHODS This retrospective cross-sectional study describes the distribution of author gender as determined from the first name across variables such as authorship position (first, middle, and last), country region, and country income level. The 608 articles with 5,302 authors included in this analysis were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Global Oncology, from its inception in October 2015 through March 2020. Primary outcome measure was author gender on the basis of first name probabilities assessed by genderize.io. World Bank classification was used to categorize the country region and income level. Odds ratios were used to describe associations between female last authorship and representation in other authorship positions. RESULTS Although female authors were in the minority across all authorship positions, they were more under-represented in the last author position with 190 (32.1%) female, compared with 252 (41.4%) female first authors and 1,564 (38.1%) female middle authors. Female authors were most under-represented among authors from low-income countries, where they made up 21.6% of first authors and 9.1% of last authors. Of all the regions, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia had the lowest percentage of female authors. Compared with articles with male last authors, those with female last authors had odds ratios (95% CI) of 2.2 (1.6 to 3.2) of having female first authors and 1.4 (0.9 to 2.1) of having 50% or more female middle authors. CONCLUSION There are wide regional variations in author gender distribution in global oncology. Female authors remain markedly under-represented, especially in lower-income countries, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. Future interventions should be tailored to mitigate these disparities.

Autofiction and Shishōsetsu: Women Writers and Reinventing the Self

This chapter explores the shared characteristics, both in terms of thematic concerns and narrative structures and strategies, of autofiction and the distinct Japanese form of the I-novel, shishōsetsu. Focusing on the works of three contemporary Japanese writers, Kanai Mieko, Sagisawa Megumu, and Mizumura Minae, it examines the narrative strategies applied by female authors to redefine the self. The chapter focuses on the traits shared by shishōsetsu and autofiction: the ambiguity of first-person narratives such as the semantics of “I” within the text; the interdependence of author, narrator, and protagonist; the practices of fictionalizing the self; and the question of authorship. Exploring shishōsetsu as an autofictional form also expands the scope of existing theoretical discussions on the autofictional, which rarely take Japanese literature into consideration.

Statistical analysis used in LIS research produced by Pakistani authors

PurposeStatistical methods are important for meaningful analysis, critique and interpretation of results. The current study aims to investigate the use of statistical methods used in LIS research articles produced by Pakistani authors during 2001–2016.Design/methodology/approachContent analysis method with both the qualitative and quantitative components was used. LIS articles published by Pakistani authors in national and international journals from 2001 to 2016 were selected. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the usage of statistical techniques.FindingsThe findings show that use of descriptive statistics remained higher as compared to inferential statistics in the LIS research produced by Pakistani authors. However, a visible growth trend in the use of inferential statistical techniques is found. Males are two times more likely to use inferential statistics as compared to female authors. Articles published in foreign journals and impact factor journals used more inferential statistics as compared to local and nonimpact factor journals. Parametric inferential statistics is more popular among Pakistani authors as compared to nonparametric. Faculty was more inclined toward using parametric statistic. The percentage of collaboration was higher in the papers using parametric statistics. Few articles reported the tests to fulfill the assumptions of parametric and nonparametric statistics.Originality/valueThis study can be used to better understand the trends of statistical techniques used in LIS research and authors' orientation in this regard. It will be helpful for future researchers in the selection of appropriate statistical techniques to be used.

O lugar da literatura monástica feminina no cânone Barroco português

Women’s Monastic Writing within the Portuguese Baroque Canon. This article aims to approach Portuguese female monastic literature of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in terms of its relationship with the Baroque literary canon. Shaped at the border that separates voice and silence, the visible and the spiritual universe, the cult of moderation and the desire to assert, this literature outlined a new type of discourse, which hinted at the intense conflict between suppression and authority, which, in turn, gave rise to a permanent dialogue between the feminine ethos, the controversial character of the Baroque and the always oscillating essence of the canon. We will show, that, during the last centuries, the works of some famous female writers, such as Sóror Maria do Céu, Sóror Violante do Céu and Sóror Madalena da Glória, or of other female authors who remained in the shadows, have been differently and unequally absorbed by literary critics and historians and by great anthologists. Their writings have not ceased to be represented as preferential places of dispute, of the uninterrupted dialogue between silence and affirmation, between center and margin, which generally regulates the literary canon. Keywords: monastic, literature, feminine, canon, Baroque

Trends in authorship by women at Canadian universities 2006 to 2019

Despite much progress since the mid-20th century, there still exists a disparity in the number of female academics relative to their male colleagues. This gender gap has come under increased focus as universities take steps to foster diversity and inclusiveness. Bibliometrics can provide a window into the gender disparity in research by measuring the metadata of academic publications. By determining the ratio of female to male authors, the gender bias at the level of the institution can be quantified. This study examines the proportion of female authors of academic articles at thirty Canadian universities across five broad fields of research.

Sabah Feminist Novelists: Views of Their Own

This paper scrutinizes five award-winning novels by five Sabah female writers and the issues of sexual discrimination, lack of opportunities, patriarchal hegemony and the negative perceptions of the body that plague Sabah Malay women. A discursive analysis of these issues is anchored upon a gynocritic feminist approach first introduced by Elaine Showalter in her famous essay entitled "Toward a Feminist Poetics" (Newton, 1997). The purpose of this study is to uncover the concept of the feminine "self" in the Sabah context through a thirty-year interrogation represented by these five female authors' novels and narrative styles, which include an exploration of their themes, language styles and poetics through the five novels entitled Malisiah by Obasiah Hj Usman (1986), Dari dalam Cermin by Azmah Nordin (1992), Gadis Adikara by Ruhaini Matdarin (2007), Pagi di Hujung Senja by Kathirina Susanna Tati (2013) and Helaian Linangkit by Dayangku Mastura Pg. Ismail (2016).

What has Royal Society Open Science achieved in its first few years?

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve as the first Editor-in-Chief of Royal Society Open Science for the past 6 years. I step down at the end of December 2021, having completed two 3-year terms, and am taking the opportunity here to reflect on some of the successes and challenges that the journal has experienced and the innovations that we have introduced. When I was first approached back in 2015, the breadth of the journal, covering the whole of science, resonated with my own interests: my research career has ranged across the entire landscape of chemistry, while my leadership roles have embraced all of science, technology and medicine. The open access ethos, the objective refereeing policy that rejects the idea of only publishing what is in fashion, and the opportunities offered by a new venture that could transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries also all appealed to me. Among our successful innovations are Registered Reports, Replication Studies and the new ‘Science, Society and Policy' section. The challenges have included the transition to paid article processing charges (APCs), whether to resist pressure to retract a controversial paper, and bullying of young female authors by established senior males in the same field. I explore all of these below, provide some statistics on the journal's performance, also cover some of the notable papers we have published, and provide some concluding thoughts.

Memory, Affectivity and Intimacy in Doris Lessing's Love, Again and Rosa Montero's La carne

This article discusses the literary approaches used by Doris Lessing in Love, Again (1995), and Rosa Montero in her novel La Carne (2016), emphasising the parallels between these writers' interest in women’s ageing experiences and the role that both of these novels’ main characters play in the contemporary cultural scene. Of particular interest in this article is the experience of these female authors who write these novels between the 1990s and the two first decades of the 21st century, historical periods which were marked by major social and economic upheaval, I suggest that their respective productions problematise the notions of memory, affectivity and intimacy, and notably showcase the contributions made by women in the process of ageing as creative agents of social and cultural changes in contemporary Europe.

Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Research: A Scientometric Analysis

Background We sought to investigate sex‐specific differences in authorship of cardiovascular research over the past decade. Methods and Results All 387 463 cardiovascular publications between 2010 and 2019 were retrieved from Web of Science. Articles increased from 19 960 to 29 604 articles per year ( P >0.001). The number of articles written by female first authors increased by 76.3% (6434–11 343 articles) and by 35.0% for male first authors (13 526–18 261) ( P <0.001). The first author was more likely to be a female author in articles with female last authors. The median impact factor (IF) for articles by female first authors was lower (2.46 [interquartile range, 7 1.11–4.03] versus 2.51 [interquartile range, 1.17–4.10]; P <0.001). Female authorship articles reached the highest IF in North America (average IF, 3.7), with the lowest in Africa (average IF, 1.8). Conclusions Publications in cardiovascular research have increased over the past decade, particularly by female authors. Female researchers are cited less often compared with their male peers. The IF remains lower for articles by female researchers.