Potential gender bias against female researchers in peer review of research grants

Female health researchers who applied for grants were funded less often than male counterparts because of potential bias, found a study in CMAJ. Female health researchers who applied for grants from Canada's major health research funder were funded less often than male counterparts because of potential bias, and characteristics of peer reviewers can also affect the result, found a study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Applicants who had not been previously funded also received lower scores, making them less likely to be funded. Between 2012 and 2014, 11 624 applications were submitted to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) open operating grant competitions. Two-thirds (66%) of applicants were male and 69% were aged 40 years or older. Almost two-thirds of applications (64%) were in basic science, with the remainder from applied science (16.6% clinical, 8.1% health services and 11.3% in population health). The study, by researchers at McGill University, looking at reviewer characteristics, including gender, previous success rates with grants, experience, scientific domain, conflict of interest and more, found that these traits did introduce bias into peer review of grant applications.