Special ReportSex bias exists in basic science and translational surgical research
Section snippets
Data abstraction
All original manuscripts published in the Annals of Surgery, American Journal of Surgery, JAMA Surgery, Journal of Surgical Research, and Surgery from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2012, were reviewed for inclusion in this study by three abstractors. These journals were selected because of their relevance to the field of surgery. Letters to the Editor, review articles, editorials, and historic manuscripts were excluded. Data from the text, figures, and tables were reviewed for each
Sex disparity exists in biomedical surgical research
A total of 2,347 publications were reviewed from all five surgery journals during the years of 2011 and 2012. Of these, 618 (26%) publications reported the use of animals and/or cells (Fig 1). Of the 618 publications that used animals and/or cells, 199 (32%) publications did not specify the sex of the animals or cells. Of those publications that did specify the sex, 333 (80%) publications studied only males, 71 (17%) only females, and 13 (3%) both sexes (P < .0001).
Publications reporting the use of animals
Of the 618 publications, 531
Discussion
Our study is the first, to our knowledge, to examine the presence of sex bias in basic science and translational research in the surgical arena. The results of our study show that one-third of all publications using animals and cells did not specify the sex studied, and when stated, 80% studied only males. For research on animals, 22% of the publications did not report the sex of the animal; when reported, 80% of the publications studied only males. For research on cells, 76% of the
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