Systematic mapping of gender disparities in oncology publications of north African countries: The GEORGiNA study.

112 Background: Gender Inequities in cancer academic research continue to be a challenging global issue, including in low- and middle-income countries. While North African research environment has been historically perceived as “male-dominant”, research on gender inequity in this region is largely lacking. GEORGiNA (“Gender Equity in Oncology Research” Group in North Africa) is a bibliometric study focusing on gender disparities aiming at portraying the current situation and inform policy-making to deliver recommendations for gender equality. Methods: A bibliometric analysis based on Pubmed was conducted for the period 2018-2022. Eligible articles included at least one author from a North-African country as first or last position. Cancer researchers were asked to review the articles with the first/last author from their same country of origin, to accurately determine authors’ gender. A manual data extraction guide with simulation was developed and shared with all collaborators to harmonize data extraction, accuracy, and reporting. Factors associated with gender distribution were studied as appropriate. Results: A total of 4,414 articles published by North-African cancer researchers in the last 5 years were included in the final analysis. Females represented 52.5% of first authors, with a notable women’s presence in Tunisia (72.6% vs 27.4%). Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt reported fair distribution in this authorship (ratios ≈0.5) while Sudan and Libya had male dominance (62% and 70%, respectively). Among 23,984 of coauthors, 45% were females and 19% of all publications had no female co-authors. Last authorships were significantly more common for male researchers, in all countries (p < 0.001). Of interest, women’s lead authorships appeared markedly increased over last years, including during the period of COVID-19 outbreak. Original articles presented more commonly last authors who were men (62.6% vs 37.4% women) (p < 0.001). Indeed, male last authors had received more funding than females and published more open access research (p = 0.018). Conversely, disclosure of the funding source was more common for original contributions led by women as first authors (p < 0.001). Male authors (first and last positions) were more involved in international collaborations as compared to female authors in similar positions (p < 0.001). There was association between a reduced number of female co-authors and men in last authorship positions (p < 0.001). On the other hand, when women were first authors, female co-authors resulted substantially higher (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Women in North-African cancer research publications seem to be fairly positioned, albeit differences still exist. Lack of funding and limited engagement in international collaborations are still prevalent barriers for women scientists. The preliminary findings from the GEORGiNA study can catalyze progress toward gender equity.