Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research?

The study analyzes data from the Journal of Peace Research (JPR) from 1983 to 2008 to examine the gender gap in academic publishing. While the authors find a clear but declining gender gap in the number of submissions and published articles, they find no evidence of significant gender bias in the acceptance process or in citation counts. The results suggest that the observed productivity gap is not driven by editorial bias, and that co-authorship positively influences both publication success and citation impact regardless of gender.

• There is a significant gender gap in the authorship of the Journal of Peace Research, though it has decreased over time. Female authorship rose from below 10% in the 1980s to approximately 20% in the 1990s, and was approaching 40% by 2008.
• The gender gap in publications appears to mirror a similar gap in submissions, suggesting that the disparity is a reflection of the broader profession rather than editorial bias.
• The study found no evidence that the transition from a single-blind to a double-blind review policy significantly altered the submission-acceptance ratio for women.
• Articles with at least one female author are slightly more likely to be published than those with only male authors, but this is largely attributed to the positive effect of co-authorship rather than gender itself.
• Gender is not a significant determinant of citation rates for articles published in the journal.
• Co-authorship and specific article types have a stronger influence on citations than author gender; specifically, co-authored articles and 'Special Data Features' receive significantly more citations.

APA

ØSTBY, G., STRAND, H., NORDÅS, R., & GLEDITSCH, N. P. (n.d.). Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research? Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8d21b889-e6d6-42c8-98ac-7bba12514af3/Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research Publication Patterns for Journal of Peace Research 1983-2008.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

ØSTBY, GUDRUN, HÅVARD STRAND, RAGNHILD NORDÅS, and NILS PETTER GLEDITSCH. Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research? Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8d21b889-e6d6-42c8-98ac-7bba12514af3/Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research Publication Patterns for Journal of Peace Research 1983-2008.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=ØSTBY |first1=GUDRUN |last2=STRAND |first2=HÅVARD |last3=NORDÅS |first3=RAGNHILD |last4=GLEDITSCH |first4=NILS PETTER |title=Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research? |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8d21b889-e6d6-42c8-98ac-7bba12514af3/Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research Publication Patterns for Journal of Peace Research 1983-2008.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stbyndgender, author = {ØSTBY, GUDRUN and STRAND, HÅVARD and NORDÅS, RAGNHILD and GLEDITSCH, NILS PETTER}, title = {{Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research?}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8d21b889-e6d6-42c8-98ac-7bba12514af3/Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research Publication Patterns for Journal of Peace Research 1983-2008.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }