Urologic Oncology Clinic, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
Maria Teresa Bourlon, Salvador Jaime, Erika Martinez, Ophira Ginsburg, Shirin Heidari
Background: The notion of sex and gender is constantly evolving through many disciplines. In medical oncology, disease behavior and treatment modalities have been shown to impact men and women differently. Sex and gender-tailored clinical research in oncology could promote a better understanding of disease progression and interpretation of clinical trials. The Guidelines for Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) promote the specification of sex and gender in any given manuscript. The Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research (EQUATOR) Network promotes the wider use of 575 guidelines, which SAGER is a part of. We sought to determine the frequency in which SAGER Guidelines and the EQUATOR network are referenced in the instructions to authors of the top 100 medical oncology journals with the highest impact factor. Methods: We identified the top 100 medical oncology journals with the highest impact factor. For each, we revised their instructions to authors' material and recorded the frequency with which they referenced SAGER guidelines, the EQUATOR network, or sex and gender recommendations. Results: Median value of the (N=100) journal´s impact factor was 7.47 (range 4.8 – 286.1). Overall, 28 journals mentioned SAGER guidelines, 31 mentioned the EQUATOR network, and 37 mentioned sex and gender. Of the 28 journals that mention SAGER guidelines, 27 also mention sex and gender in their instructions to authors. A total of 12 journals mentioned both SAGER and the EQUATOR network in their instructions to authors. We dichotomized the IF value into “journals with a high impact factor” (≥10 IF) (n=31) and “journals with a low impact factor” (<10) (n=69). SAGER was mentioned in 7 (22.5%) high-impact factor journals and 21 (30.4%) low-impact factor journals. The EQUATOR network was mentioned in 8 (25.8%) high-impact factor journals and 23 (33.3%) low-impact factor journals. Sex and gender was mentioned in 12 (38.7%) high-impact factor journals and 25 (36.2%) low-impact factor journals. Conclusions: Most oncology journals still warrant consideration for appropriate sex and gender recommendations. Guidelines like SAGER and EQUATOR are still commonly overlooked in instructions to authors. Consideration for this is paramount in oncology studies, as sex and gender-tailored research could impact disease biology and treatment understanding in oncology.
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