Women authorship in library and information science journals from 1981 to 2020: Is equitable representation being attained?

Abstract

This study examines the proportion of women as first authors in major library and information science (LIS) journals over the years 1981–2020. Author name and year data were collected for 10 LIS journals – five that are associated more with library topics and five with information science topics – and analysed using the genderize.io tool. Both general trends over time and comparisons of information science versus library science journals are presented. The findings indicate significant growth in the proportion of women authors among the LIS journals, but primarily concentrated only among the library science journals, with information science journals falling well behind. Representation of women authors (~60%) still lags well below the overall representation of women in librarianship (~80%). These findings suggest that there is still considerable growth needed to decrease the gender gap among authorship in top LIS journals.