Are Female Scientists Less Inclined to Publish Alone? The Gender Solo Research Gap

Solo research is a result of individual authorship decisions which accumulate over time, accompanying academic careers. This research is the first to comprehensively study the gender solo research gap among all internationally visible scientists within a whole national higher education system: we examine the gap through individual publication portfolios constructed for each Polish university professor with at least a doctoral degree and internationally visible in the decade of 2009-2018. Solo research is a special case of academic publishing where scientists compete individually, sending clear signals about their research ability. Solo research has been expected to disappear for half a century, but it continues to exist. Our focus is on how male and female scientists of various biological ages, age groups, academic positions, and institutional types make use of, and benefit from, solo publishing. We tested the hypothesis that male and female scientists differ in their use of solo publishing, and we termed this difference the gender solo research gap. The highest share of solo research for both genders is noted for middle-aged scientists working as associate professors rather than for young scientists as in previous studies. The low journal prestige level of female solo publications may suggest the propensity of women scientists to choose less competitive publication outlets. In our unique biographical, administrative, publication, and citation database (Polish Science Observatory), we have metadata on all Polish scientists present in Scopus (N-25,463) and on their 158,743 Scopus-indexed articles published in 2009-2018, including 18,900 solo articles.