Female researchers may have experienced more difficulties than their male counterparts since the COVID-19 outbreak because of gendered housework and childcare. Using Microsoft Academic Graph data from 2016 to 2020, this study examined how the proportion of female authors in academic journals on a global scale changed in 2020 (net of recent yearly trends). We observed a decrease in research productivity for female researchers in 2020, mostly as first authors, followed by last author position. Female researchers were not necessarily excluded from but were marginalised in research. We also identified various factors that amplified the gender gap by dividing the authors' backgrounds into individual, organisational and national characteristics. Female researchers were more vulnerable when they were in their mid-career, affiliated to the least influential organisations, and more importantly from less gender-equal countries with higher mortality and restricted mobility as a result of COVID-19.

翻译：自COVID-19爆发以来,由于性别化的家务劳动和儿童保育,女性研究人员可能比男性研究人员遭遇更多的困难。本研究利用微软学术图表数据,审查了2020年全球学术期刊中女性作者比例的变化情况(最近年度趋势的净额)。我们观察到,2020年女性研究人员的研究生产率下降,大多是第一作者,其次是最后一位作者。女性研究人员不一定被排除在研究之外,但在研究中被边缘化。我们还查明了通过将作者背景分为个人、组织和国家特点而扩大性别差距的各种因素。女性研究人员在从事中级职业时更容易受到伤害,她们属于最没有影响力的组织,更重要的是,因为CVID-19导致死亡率较高和流动性受限的两性平等国家。