Elsevier has recently published the report Gender in the Global Research Landscape. The publication is a follow-on to its 2015 report Mapping Gender in the German Research, and addresses critical issues related to gender disparity and bias in research performance. It examines the outputs, quality, and impact of research worldwide with a gender perspective, and employs bibliometric analysis and methodologies that enable gender disambiguation of authors within the Scopus abstract and citation database. The report includes comparisons between 27 subject areas, across 12 countries and regions, over two decades.

Jörg Müller, senior researcher in Gender and ICT, has collaborated with the report’s development, together with other expert stakeholder organizations and individuals who have provided advice on the research questions, methodologies or the policy contexts for the report findings. Among the key findings, the study highlights that the proportion of women among researchers and inventors is increasing in all twelve comparator countries and regions over time. On the other hand, women tend to have a lower scholarly output overall than men, but women and men tend to have similar citation and download impacts.

In sum, this publication contributes to a further understanding of the impact of gender, sex, and diversity in research, and provides insights and guidance on gender equality policies for governments, funders, and institutions. The full report is available here.