How international are the editorial boards of leading spine journals? A STROBE-compliant study

Abstract

Low- and middle-income countries contribute to only a small percentage of publications in multiple medical fields. Editorial bias was reported to be an important reason for this. However, whether this trend exists in leading spine journals remains unclear. This study determined the composition of the editorial boards of leading spine journals and analyzed the international representation of editorial boards. The editorial board members of four leading subspecialty spine journals, including The Spine Journal , Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine , European Spine Journal , and Spine were identified from the journals’ websites. The countries of editorial board members were identified and analyzed according to the continent and country income categories classified by the World Bank. A total of 608 editorial board members were identified from the four leading spine journals. The majority (91.4%) of editorial board members were from high-income countries, followed by upper-middle income countries (7.2%), and lower-middle income countries (1.3%). No editorial board members were from low-income countries. Regarding the continent of residence, 46.5% of the editorial board members were from North America, followed by Europe (38.5%), Asia (9.9%), South America (2.8%), Oceania (1.6%), and Africa (0.7%). The editorial board members came from 40 different countries, which were concentrated in North America, Western Europe, and East Asia. The largest number of editorial board members came from the United States (42.3%), followed by Germany (6.9%), the United Kingdom (6.7%), Switzerland (5.8%), and Italy (5.1%). A lack of international representation on editorial boards exists in leading spine journals. Editorial board members from high-income countries are substantially overrepresented, while editorial board members from low- and middle-income countries are severely underrepresented. The United States is the most represented country on the editorial boards of leading spine journals.

How international are the editorial boards in the field of foot and ankle surgery?: A STROBE-compliant cross-sectional study

“…[15] A survey indicates that researchers from LAMIC believe that a biased attitude of editors from high-income countries (HIC) against their work may lead to the under-representation of LAMIC authors in publications. [19] The under-representation of editors from LAMIC was also found in multiple medical fields, [20][21][22][23] such as pharmacy, [6] psychiatry, [13] spine, [14] and neurology. [9] However, whether this phenomenon exists in the field of foot and ankle surgery is remain unknow.…”

Association of International Editorial Staff With Published Articles From Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…Our findings are consistent with prior studies that have revealed substantial underrepresentation of editorial staff members of major biomedical journals who are affiliated with LMICs. 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 19 , 20 One 2005 study reported that 96% of editorial staff members of leading pediatric journals were based in HICs, 21 and another study in 2014 reported that 93% of editorial staff members of leading orthopedics journals were based in HICs. 9 Similarly, in 2020, we found that 95% of the cumulative total of editorial staff members in the selected journals with high impact factors across various fields were based in HICs.…”

Disparities in research capacity for tobacco control: an inventory of peer-reviewed publications using the Global Tobacco Surveillance System data

“…Lesser academic incentive for publication outside the U.S. and India, if present, may also contribute to publication disparities. If editorial boards of peerreviewed journals are not of diverse national origin, the composition of persons selecting manuscripts for publication may also contribute to publication disparities (42)(43)(44). Fees for publication may contribute to disparities in publication (45), although this does not explain disparately low numbers of publications out of the United Kingdom or other HICs: although some journals waive their fee for publication for LMICs (46,47), authors may not know this, and may therefore perceive a financial barrier to publication.…”