A gender gap in the manuscript review time of Turkish national journals?

This study shows a review time gender gap. In a sample of 44,371 published articles in 255 Turkish national journals, we document that female authors experience significantly longer peer review. We argue and find that review time follows a pecking order of authorship based on the joint efficiency of female versus male authorship and solo work versus teamwork. As a result, solo males experience the fastest reviews and female teams the longest reviews. The time differential between female and male solo-authored papers (solo gender gap) is 11.1 days (9.7%) and rises to 24.1 days (17%) for papers authored through same sex collaborations (team gender gap). Controlling for other factors, female authors are penalised by up to 7.1% longer review time. Significant gender gaps exist in six of the eight fields studied, including major areas such as Education, Business & Economics, and the General Social Sciences. Results suggest that subtle gender gaps persist despite improvements in women's academic representation.