A 10-year analysis of the racial distribution of authors in plastic surgery research and the impact of minority mentorship.

Background: This study evaluates the racial distribution in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (PRS) publication authorship and illustrates the impact underrepresented in medicine (URiM) mentorship has on increasing diverse trainee contributions to the PRS peer-reviewed literature.

Methods: Articles published in the seven highest-impact PRS peer-reviewed journals within the last 10 years (2012-2022) were reviewed and analyzed for first and senior authors' race and ethnicity, publication year, and citation count.

Results: A total of 23,549 publications were identified of which 8250 were from the US-based institutions. A random sampling of 778 publications (∼10 ​%) were scrutinized for first and senior author race and ethnicity. Across all journals, 64.5 ​% of senior authors were White, 29.9 ​% Asian, 4.6 ​% Hispanic, and 1.0 ​% Black. First authors were 59.5 ​% White, 32.8 ​% Asian, 5.2 ​% Hispanic, and 2.6 ​% Black (p=<0.0001). The presence of a URiM senior author increased the likelihood of a URiM first author 7-fold (p=<0.0001); 95 ​% CI [3.5-14.0]). There was no statistically significant difference in the total citation count relative to author race or ethnicity. The Aesthetic Surgery Journal had the greatest proportion of White senior authors (73.6 ​%), while Microsurgery had the highest percentage of URiM senior authors (8.7 ​%).

Conclusions: URiM authorship of PRS publications is limited and mentorship is essential to improve underrepresented perspectives in the PRS peer-reviewed literature.