Some funders and journals are trying to support female researchers and others whose publications and positions are at risk.
Early data on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on scientific-publishing output suggest that female researchers, particularly those at early-career stages, are the hardest hit. Submissions to preprint servers, such as arXiv, rose more quickly for male authors than for female authors as nations adopted social-isolation measures. And female authors have accounted for only one-third of all authors on published COVID-19 papers since January 2020.
As a consequence of the pandemic, female researchers’ positions might be at risk. For example, a May report found that female scientists in Australia, who are 1.5 times more likely to be in casual or short-term contract jobs, are more likely to lose jobs, paid hours and career opportunities than are their male counterparts.
For female scientists, the pandemic also poses a significant threat to hard-won gender-equity gains achieved over the past few decades. Nature asked journal editors, funders and academic leaders how to mitigate those threats.
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