Perceived Gender Biases

In order to identify perceived gender aspects of the publication process, the Survey participants were asked the following questions:

1. "Have you observed any barriers in the publication process that impact the acceptance of women researchers' papers? If so, would you elaborate?"
   None of the survey respondents have witnessed gender barriers in the publication process. Several comments are worth noting:
   
   • Five respondents stated that barriers are high for everyone to include gender, nationality, and ethnic background.
   • Two respondents stated that women have higher acceptance rates versus men in the journals that they manage.
   • One respondent stated that even though women face real or imaginary barriers in the work environment, these barriers do not exist in the publication process.
2. "What, if any, additional or unique advice would you give to women researchers (versus men) concerning a successful publication practice?"
   The majority of respondents stated that advice for women researchers would be the same for men researchers. One respondent sums it best "We are just looking for great papers". However, several respondents had additional comments:
   
   • Four respondents advise women researchers to be aggressive and persistent and not to take criticism personally.
   • One respondent states that women tend to write more tentatively and less arrogantly than men.
   • One respondent recommends that women should exploit their better skills in organization and methodical work (versus men).
   • One respondent recommends women researchers to use initials on submitted papers instead of complete names.
   • One respondent recommends that journals should adopt a double-blind review process.

This CD ROM contains a few published papers which address academic publishing and gender.