Bertram Häussler, Barbara Schmalfeldt, Senta Häussler, Angela Köninger, Stefan Loos, Gert Naumann, Anton Scharl, Christian J. Thaler, Martin Weiss, Martin Albrecht
{"title":"National and International Comparisons of Gynecological Research in Germany Based on a Bibliometric Analysis of Publications","authors":"Bertram Häussler, Barbara Schmalfeldt, Senta Häussler, Angela Köninger, Stefan Loos, Gert Naumann, Anton Scharl, Christian J. Thaler, Martin Weiss, Martin Albrecht","doi":"10.1055/a-2200-4122","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background Recent years have seen a considerable shift from male doctors to female doctors in the field of gynecology. Female doctors are traditionally more involved with planning and maintaining their family. For gynecology, this could be associated with a risk that research activities will decrease, particularly if results are published in scientific journals. Methods In view of this shift, a comparative observational study was carried for 2022 in which 1306 publications were matched to 1786 female and male doctors reported on the websites of the 44 locations of university gynecology departments in Germany. In addition, the volume of publications issued between 2014 and 2022 was compared for Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In Germany, the volume of publications in Gynecology was additionally compared with the publication outputs of the specialties Urology and Trauma Surgery. Results Since 2014, the increase in the numbers of publications in the field of Gynecology in Germany was lower (225%) than that of the countries with which it was compared (238%/252%/260% for F/UK/USA). When Gynecology was compared with other medical specialties in Germany, the number of publications in Urology were found to have increased at a lower rate (196%) while the number of publications in the field of Trauma Surgery increased by more (286%) than that of Gynecology. At the start of 2023, the percentage of women who were working as doctors at the lowest hierarchical level (junior doctor) was 81%. The publication output per capita of female doctors working at lower levels in the medical hierarchy, i.e., working as junior doctors and senior physicians, was between 40% and 80% lower than that of male doctors working at the same level. However, female directors published as much as male directors did. In the lower hierarchy levels, men were up to 14% more likely to be without an academic title. Predictors for more extensive publication activities by young female and male doctors include the extent and quality of publications by doctors in senior positions, the presence of a comprehensive cancer center or an institute for human genetics at the location where the young doctors were working, and joint publications with foreign authors. Conclusion For the German Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the results suggest a number of approaches to promote young researchers. The support provided to young female doctors is especially important as this should help to retain them as junior researchers over the long term.","PeriodicalId":12481,"journal":{"name":"Geburtshilfe Und Frauenheilkunde","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Geburtshilfe Und Frauenheilkunde","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2200-4122","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background Recent years have seen a considerable shift from male doctors to female doctors in the field of gynecology. Female doctors are traditionally more involved with planning and maintaining their family. For gynecology, this could be associated with a risk that research activities will decrease, particularly if results are published in scientific journals. Methods In view of this shift, a comparative observational study was carried for 2022 in which 1306 publications were matched to 1786 female and male doctors reported on the websites of the 44 locations of university gynecology departments in Germany. In addition, the volume of publications issued between 2014 and 2022 was compared for Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In Germany, the volume of publications in Gynecology was additionally compared with the publication outputs of the specialties Urology and Trauma Surgery. Results Since 2014, the increase in the numbers of publications in the field of Gynecology in Germany was lower (225%) than that of the countries with which it was compared (238%/252%/260% for F/UK/USA). When Gynecology was compared with other medical specialties in Germany, the number of publications in Urology were found to have increased at a lower rate (196%) while the number of publications in the field of Trauma Surgery increased by more (286%) than that of Gynecology. At the start of 2023, the percentage of women who were working as doctors at the lowest hierarchical level (junior doctor) was 81%. The publication output per capita of female doctors working at lower levels in the medical hierarchy, i.e., working as junior doctors and senior physicians, was between 40% and 80% lower than that of male doctors working at the same level. However, female directors published as much as male directors did. In the lower hierarchy levels, men were up to 14% more likely to be without an academic title. Predictors for more extensive publication activities by young female and male doctors include the extent and quality of publications by doctors in senior positions, the presence of a comprehensive cancer center or an institute for human genetics at the location where the young doctors were working, and joint publications with foreign authors. Conclusion For the German Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the results suggest a number of approaches to promote young researchers. The support provided to young female doctors is especially important as this should help to retain them as junior researchers over the long term.
期刊介绍:
Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde (GebFra) addresses the whole field of obstetrics and gynecology and is concerned with research as much as with clinical practice. In its scientific section, it publishes original articles, reviews and case reports in all fields of the discipline, namely
gynecological oncology, including oncology of the breast
obstetrics and perinatal medicine,
reproductive medicine,
and urogynecology.
GebFra invites the submission of original articles and review articles.
In addition, the journal publishes guidelines, statements and recommendations in cooperation with the DGGG, SGGG, OEGGG and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften (AWMF, Association of Scientific Medical Societies, www.awmf.org). Apart from the scientific section, Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde has a news and views section that also includes discussions, book reviews and professional information.
Letters to the editors are welcome. If a letter discusses an article that has been published in our journal, the corresponding author of the article will be informed and invited to comment on the letter. The comment will be published along with the letter.