Gender bias laid bare in analysis of chemistry publications

Royal Society of Chemistry plans changes to publication processes to empower female authors

Female authors face barriers at every stage of the publication process, according to an analysis of more than 700,000 papers submitted to chemistry journals.

The Royal Society of Chemistry examined reams of submissions to its journals and 141,000 citations. It found problems at each step from submission to citation, such as male reviewers being more likely to recommend rejection of submissions from female than male lead authors.