Gender and LGBTQ+ Research Still Rare in Top Journals — And Mostly By Men

📊 What Was Counted and How

This study measures publication trends for gender and LGBTQIA+ scholarship in five top political science journals from 2017 through 2023 (inclusive). The analysis identifies articles focused on gender politics and LGBTQIA+ politics and records author gender and methodological approach.

🔎 Key Findings

• Gender and LGBTQIA+ research together make up only 5%–7% of articles published in the selected top journals over 2017–2023.
• Most of that work focuses on gender politics; LGBTQIA+ politics account for a smaller share of the subgroup.
• The majority of published gender and LGBTQIA+ research is quantitative in method.
• Men author gender research at rates nearly three times their share in the American Political Science Association’s Women, Gender, and Politics research section, and men are also overrepresented among authors of LGBTQIA+ research.
• Publication in top journals appears to be concentrated when manuscripts conform to disciplinary norms about methodology (favoring quantitative work) and author gender, suggesting editorial signals shape which manuscripts are routed to or accepted by these outlets.

🧭 Why It Matters

These patterns indicate that scholarship on gender and LGBTQIA+ topics remains marginal in leading political science journals and that methodological and authorial norms are linked to visibility. The skew toward quantitative methods and male authorship has implications for whose questions and approaches gain prominence, how editorial teams influence publication pathways, and which topics receive sustained attention within the discipline.