Visibility and responsibility of women in research papers through the order of signatures: the case of the University of Extremadura, 1990–2005

Though there are many and diverse opinions as to the order in which the authors appear in research papers, the most accepted is the one which gives more responsibility to the first and last author. In this work, a study is carried out of the order in which the authors appear in research papers, in which at least one author affiliated to the University of Extremadura (Spain) has collaborated in the 1990–2005 period. The objective is to determine the difference in the position of men and women, and the resulting responsibility and visibility of female authors as opposed to male authors. In the University of Extremadura these positions are principally occupied by men, since throughout the period studied, no more than 20% of the papers have women either in the first or last position, while the percentage obtained by men is around 50%, the remaining percentage being occupied by authors not belonging at present to the Uex. Nevertheless, the women of the University of Extremadura have both a higher percentage than expected and a positive evolution in the more relevant positions in recent years.