TY - JOUR
T1 - What is the gender representation in authorship in later phase systemic clinical trials in biliary tract cancer (BTC)? - a retrospective review of the published literature
AU - Mcnamara, Mairéad G.
AU - Bridgewater, John
AU - Goyal, Lipika
AU - Jacobs, Timothy
AU - Wagner, Anna D.
AU - Goldstein, David
AU - Shroff, Rachna
AU - Moehler, Markus
AU - Lowery, Maeve
AU - Bekaii-Saab, Tanios
AU - Kelley, Robin K.
AU - Furuse, Junji
AU - Rimassa, Lorenza
AU - Morizane, Chigusa
AU - Lamarca, Angela
AU - Hubner, Richard
AU - Knox, Jennifer
AU - Valle, Juan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/10/26
Y1 - 2022/10/26
N2 - Objectives Female physicians in medicine are increasing, but disparities in female authorship exist. The aim of this study was to characterise factors associated with female first (FF) and female senior (SF) authorship in later phase systemic oncological clinical trials in biliary tract cancer (BTC) and identify any changes over time. Setting Embase/Medline identified trial publications in BTC (2000-2020) were included. χ 2 tests and log regression were used (assessed factors associated with FF and SF authorship, including changes over time (STATA V.16)). Primary outcome measure FF and SF authorship in later phase systemic oncological clinical trials in BTC. Secondary outcome measure Any changes over time? Results Of 501 publications, 163 met inclusion criteria. The median percentage of female author representation in publications was 25%; there were no female authors in 13% of publications. Geographic location of the home institution of the first and senior authors was Asia (42%/42%), Europe (29%/29%), USA (24%/22%) and other (4%/6%), respectively. Overall, FF and SF author representation was 20% and 10%, respectively. The median position of the first female author was second in all the publication author lists. The phase of trial, journal-impact factor, industry funding or whether the study met its primary endpoint did not impact FF/SF author representation. More SF authors had home institutions in 'other' geographic locations (40% in 10 trials) (p=0.02) versus Asia (6%), Europe (8%) and USA (14%). There were no significant changes in FF/SF representation over time (p=0.61 and p=0.33 respectively). Conclusions FF and SF author representation in later phase systemic clinical trial publications in BTC is low and has not changed significantly over time. The underlying reasons for this imbalance need to be better understood and addressed.
AB - Objectives Female physicians in medicine are increasing, but disparities in female authorship exist. The aim of this study was to characterise factors associated with female first (FF) and female senior (SF) authorship in later phase systemic oncological clinical trials in biliary tract cancer (BTC) and identify any changes over time. Setting Embase/Medline identified trial publications in BTC (2000-2020) were included. χ 2 tests and log regression were used (assessed factors associated with FF and SF authorship, including changes over time (STATA V.16)). Primary outcome measure FF and SF authorship in later phase systemic oncological clinical trials in BTC. Secondary outcome measure Any changes over time? Results Of 501 publications, 163 met inclusion criteria. The median percentage of female author representation in publications was 25%; there were no female authors in 13% of publications. Geographic location of the home institution of the first and senior authors was Asia (42%/42%), Europe (29%/29%), USA (24%/22%) and other (4%/6%), respectively. Overall, FF and SF author representation was 20% and 10%, respectively. The median position of the first female author was second in all the publication author lists. The phase of trial, journal-impact factor, industry funding or whether the study met its primary endpoint did not impact FF/SF author representation. More SF authors had home institutions in 'other' geographic locations (40% in 10 trials) (p=0.02) versus Asia (6%), Europe (8%) and USA (14%). There were no significant changes in FF/SF representation over time (p=0.61 and p=0.33 respectively). Conclusions FF and SF author representation in later phase systemic clinical trial publications in BTC is low and has not changed significantly over time. The underlying reasons for this imbalance need to be better understood and addressed.
KW - adult oncology
KW - chemotherapy
KW - hepatobiliary tumours
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U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064954
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064954
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36288834
AN - SCOPUS:85140809266
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 12
JO - BMJ open
JF - BMJ open
IS - 10
M1 - 064954
ER -