Trends and influences in women authorship in randomised controlled trials in rheumatology: a comprehensive analysis of all published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) from 2009 to 2023
Authors' conclusion
The persistent under-representation of women in RCTs and their lower chances of being senior authors highlight the need for better strategies to close the gender gap.
Study context
- Population
- All RCTs published in rheumatology from 2009 to 2023 and their authorsauthors of 1092 RCTs
- Participants
- 10,794 participants
- Outcome
- Women's gender of authors (percentage of women as authors)
Methodological detailscross-sectional bibliometric analysis of published RCTs, generalised estimating equations, gender determined using Gender API
- Cross-sectional bibliometric analysis of published RCTs
- Generalised estimating equations
- Gender determined using Gender API
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Women as authors of all authors (overall non-adjusted estimate)
Women as proportion of all authors
39.8%
95% CI 38.4% to 41.2%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Women authorship when the last author was a woman
| OR (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Woman last author+19.46 pp | 2.34 (1.02–5.38) | |
| 0.20.5125Odds ratio (log scale) |
Women authorship in industry-funded RCTs
| OR (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Industry-funded RCTs−5.85 pp | 0.79 (0.66–0.93) | |
| 0.512Odds ratio (log scale) |
Women as last authors
| OR (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women−10.2 pp; women less often last authors | 0.63 (0.54–0.74) | |
| 0.512Odds ratio (log scale) |
Women as second-to-last authors
| OR (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women−10.19 pp; women less often second-to-last authors | 0.73 (0.62–0.85) | |
| 0.512Odds ratio (log scale) |
Women authorship when the last author was a woman
- Women authorship higher in African-based RCTs and among pharmaceutical-affiliated authors
Women authorship in industry-funded RCTs
- Women authorship lower in Asian and European RCTs
Women as second-to-last authors
- No differences by international status or publication year
Original publication
Trends and influences in women authorship in randomised controlled trials in rheumatology: a comprehensive analysis of all published RCTs from 2009 to 2023. RMD Open. Published 27 March 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →