Nature Journal Reports Women Remain at 16% of Corresponding Authors, Fueling Debate on Gender Equality Progress

London, UK – A recent editorial from the prestigious scientific journal Nature has revealed that women constitute only 16% of corresponding authors submitting manuscripts to the publication, a figure that has remained largely unchanged since 2018. This statistic has ignited further discussion on gender equality in academia, drawing critical commentary from prominent figures like computer science professor Pedro Domingos.

Professor Domingos, known for his outspoken views on algorithmic bias and diversity, challenged the notion of increasing gender equality in science, stating in a recent tweet, "> .@Nature is hilarious. Does this look like gender equality increasing? https://t.co/huU2GgQLbe". This comment, while sarcastic, underscores a persistent concern regarding the pace and effectiveness of initiatives aimed at balancing gender representation in top-tier scientific publishing. Domingos has previously expressed skepticism about claims of widespread bias, arguing that some efforts to achieve "fairer" outcomes can be misguided.

In its May 2025 editorial, Nature acknowledged the sobering reality of the gender gap, particularly among corresponding authors who bear primary responsibility for manuscripts. The analysis, which covered 215,000 submissions between January 2023 and July 2024 across Nature Portfolio journals, found that women's representation was lower in more selective journals and in disciplines such as computer science, chemistry, and physics, where it barely exceeds 10%. Conversely, health and life sciences showed slightly higher, though still imbalanced, representation.

Springer Nature, the publisher of Nature, has committed to addressing these disparities through targeted editorial policies and outreach. Initiatives include actively soliciting submissions from women and widening the pool of peer reviewers, with some success observed in commissioned review articles. Despite these efforts, a Nature Index analysis from April 2025 indicated that even general journals like Nature and Science only just make it into the top 100 for female authorship percentage, hovering around 30% across all authorships.

The journal emphasized that achieving true gender equity requires a "concerted effort from everyone in the research ecosystem," acknowledging the systemic nature of the problem. While Nature continues to track and report on its publishing practices, the slow progress and the critical reactions from figures like Professor Domingos highlight the ongoing challenges in transforming the landscape of scientific authorship and leadership.