Abstract

Objective: To present potential mechanisms for female authorship in intensive care research by evaluating the ratio of female first author to senior author in the top 100 most cited articles.

Methods: In the Web of Science search engine, by typing the search key “SU=CRITICAL CARE OR WC=CRITICAL CARE” and in advanced mode; to investigate the female sex ratio in the first and senior author in the top 100 most cited research articles in the international literature written in the field of intensive care.

Results: When the first 100 most cited articles were analyzed regarding the first name and last name gender difference, the rate of first name female authors was 16%. The country with the highest number of female authors writing first names was the United States. In the analysis, when the gender of the first name and the gender of the last name was evaluated, no statistically significant relationship was found between them (p=0.327). A statistically significant difference was found between the gender of the first author and the journal in which the article was published (p=0.021). A significant relationship was found between the gender of the first name and the country of the journal in which the article was published (p=0.032).

Conclusion: When evaluated in terms of article authorship, gender inequalities were identified in scientific activities and academic leadership positions in intensive care. Female gender is underrepresented in the international literature in the field of intensive care.