Equity and Access

Published in the Research School of Physics Event Horizon
Vol43 Issue3 6–10 February 2017

From the RSPE Equity and Access Committee:

Gender imbalance in science journals is still pervasive

The latest update on Nature’s sexism shows an increase in female contributors and referees since 2012, but there is a long way to go.

In 2012, this journal (Nature) admitted its gender bias. Following a complaint from two readers that too few News & Views articles were written by women, we totted up the numbers and realized that they were correct. Moreover, the imbalance was present in other sections of Nature, too. At the time, we pledged to commission more female scientists as reviewers and writers by asking editors to explicitly consider them, and to report back on progress (Nature 491, 495; 2012). We did so in 2013 and the results were mixed. There was progress, but it was patchy and we conceded that we needed to keep trying, and to try harder (Nature 504, 188; 2013). It is time for another update. 

For more information see here and here