Gender Analysis and Co-Authorship Networks in the Scientific Production of Oncology in Spain (2011-2021)

Abstract

[EN] Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide, making it a major public health problem that requires extensive research involving men and women in equal parts. This study aims to analyse authorship by gender and its relationship with publication in top-ranked journals and the number of times each article has been cited, assessing the influence of international collaboration and funding. 50,776 cancer-related papers, signed by 223,582 authors were gathered from the Web of Science for the period of 2011-2021. The number of papers authored by men was greater than that authored by women, although there was a gradual trend towards parity. Interestingly, the two most prolific authors are women, and women have larger co-authorship networks than men do. Funding is an important factor in determining whether an article is published in the first or second quartile, as is collaboration between two or more countries. However, the percentage of women and preferred authorship does not determine the impact of a publication, and as the percentage of women increases, the citation count decreases. In conclusion, gender disparities between authors still exist, and even though these differences are decreasing, it will take a long time to reach parity. This study is the first to document an inverse relationship between the proportion of women on research teams, the amount of funding received, and the number of citations in the field of international oncology research involving at least one Spanish institution.