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Gender gap in journal submissions and peer review during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study on 2329 Elsevier journals

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  • Flaminio Squazzoni
  • Giangiacomo Bravo
  • Francisco Grimaldo
  • Daniel García-Costa
  • Mike Farjam
  • Bahar Mehmani

Abstract

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an unusually high submission rate of scholarly articles. Given that most academics were forced to work from home, the competing demands for familial duties may have penalized the scientific productivity of women. To test this hypothesis, we looked at submitted manuscripts and peer review activities for all Elsevier journals between February and May 2018-2020, including data on over 5 million authors and referees. Results showed that during the first wave of the pandemic, women submitted proportionally fewer manuscripts than men. This deficit was especially pronounced among more junior cohorts of women academics. The rate of the peer-review invitation acceptance showed a less pronounced gender pattern with women taking on a greater service responsibility for journals, except for health & medicine, the field where the impact of COVID-19 research has been more prominent. Our findings suggest that the first wave of the pandemic has created potentially cumulative advantages for men.

Suggested Citation

  • Flaminio Squazzoni & Giangiacomo Bravo & Francisco Grimaldo & Daniel García-Costa & Mike Farjam & Bahar Mehmani, 2021. "Gender gap in journal submissions and peer review during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study on 2329 Elsevier journals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(10), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0257919
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257919
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Adam Palayew & Ole Norgaard & Kelly Safreed-Harmon & Tue Helms Andersen & Lauge Neimann Rasmussen & Jeffrey V. Lazarus, 2020. "Pandemic publishing poses a new COVID-19 challenge," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(7), pages 666-669, July.
    2. Oriol Aspachs & Ruben Durante & Alberto Graziano & Josep Mestres & Marta Reynal-Querol & Jose G Montalvo, 2021. "Tracking the impact of COVID-19 on economic inequality at high frequency," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bratanova, Alexandra, 2023. "Analysis of Australian business and research specialisation in antimicrobial resistance technology," MPRA Paper 118699, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Horbach, Serge P.J.M. & Schneider, Jesper W. & Sainte-Marie, Maxime, 2022. "Ungendered writing: Writing styles are unlikely to account for gender differences in funding rates in the natural and technical sciences," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).
    3. Andrijana Perković Paloš & Antonija Mijatović & Ivan Buljan & Daniel Garcia-Costa & Elena Álvarez-García & Francisco Grimaldo & Ana Marušić, 2023. "Linguistic and semantic characteristics of articles and peer review reports in Social Sciences and Medical and Health Sciences: analysis of articles published in Open Research Central," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4707-4729, August.
    4. Constantin Bürgi & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2022. "The influence of Covid-19 on publications in economics: bibliometric evidence from five working paper series," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(9), pages 5175-5189, September.
    5. Ji-Young Son & Michelle L. Bell, 2022. "Scientific authorship by gender: trends before and during a global pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Barbara Poggio, 2022. "Working for Gender Equality in the Neoliberal Academia: Between Theory and Practice," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 26(sup2022), pages 220014-2200.
    7. Marta Jiménez Carrillo & Unai Martín & Amaia Bacigalupe, 2023. "Gender Inequalities in Publications about COVID-19 in Spain: Authorship and Sex-Disaggregated Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-10, January.
    8. Kwon, Eunrang & Yun, Jinhyuk & Kang, Jeong-han, 2023. "The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on gendered research productivity and its correlates," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    9. Ryan, M. & Tuke, J. & Hutchinson, M.R. & Spencer, S.J., 2023. "Gender-specific effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on scientific publishing productivity: Impact and resilience," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    10. Chantal Remery & Richard J. Petts & Joop Schippers & Mara A. Yerkes, 2022. "Gender and employment: Recalibrating women's position in work, organizations, and society in times of COVID‐19," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 1927-1934, November.

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