Proportion of women on the editorial committees of dental journals in the world

Abstract

Objective: Despite the increase in the female contribution to careers in the health sector, Dentistry hasshown slow progress towards gender equality. The objective of this study was to quantify the proportion ofwomen in the editorial committees of dental journals in the world. Material and Methods: Dental journalspublished in the world were compiled, which met inclusion criteria: dental journals indexed to Scopus intheir 2020 edition, access to the composition of the editorial committee. Non-current journals, without accessto their website, journals not classified in a quartile, and journals with publishers outside their country oforigin, were excluded. The selection of journals was carried out from January 11 to 19, 2021. The analysisvariables were the composition of the editorial committee, dental specialty according to the SJR categoryand the title of the journal, quartile of the journal, and country of origin of the editorial headquarters.Results: One hundred eighty nine journals were identified. Women represented 22.91% for the position ofdirector or editor-in-chief. With respect to associate editors and members of the editorial board, 24.76%and 22.91% were women, respectively. Likewise, greater female participation was observed in Q2 and Q1journals and in thematic areas of Geriatric Dentistry, Dental Education, Dental Public Health, and BasicSciences. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the low proportion of women on the editorial boards ofdental journals in the world.KEYWORDSGender; Women; Dentistry; Editor; Editorial board; Research.