The number of women in psychiatry has increased considerably during the past 40 years, but issues of concern persist regarding the advancement of women in academic medicine. The study explores the development of the representation of women among authors of scientific publications.

Articles published by three high impact general psychiatric journals - the Archives of General Psychiatry, the American Journal of Psychiatry and the British Journal of Psychiatry - were categorized according to characteristics of psychiatric research with respect to the researchers’ gender. Data were collected for the years 1994 and 2007.

Overall the rate of female authors increased from about one fourth in 1994 to one third in 2007. The highest increases of female authors were found in the most relevant areas for academic career: first authorship, original research articles and publications on neuroimaging and genetics.

Despite considerable gains, women still compose a minority of authors of scientific publications in the journals studied. Ongoing effort and interventions are required to promote further advances and gender equity.