Objective

To compare worldwide differences in scientific production on fatherhood and motherhood (quantity, start time and evolution over time), to determine the international geographic distribution of articles on fatherhood, and, to examine the relationship between the human development index (HDI), the global gender gap index (GGGI), and the number of articles on fatherhood.

Method

Descriptive analysis of articles on fatherhood and motherhood from the Scopus database 1788-2016, and longitudinal analysis 2006-2015 of the relationship between scientific production on fatherhood, the HDI and the GGGI, by means of a multilevel model with Poisson distribution and extra-Poisson parameter.

Results

We observed four times fewer articles on fatherhood than on motherhood. Articles on fatherhood were developed later than those on motherhood, and most (85%) were published in the last two decades, when they increased more than articles on motherhood. We identified geographical inequalities, with North America, Europe and Oceania leading the way. There is a statistically significant relationship between the increase in the HDI and the GGGI in world countries, and the increase in the articles on fatherhood.

Conclusions

Socially built knowledge around fatherhood and motherhood is unequal. It is essential to develop non-parcelled, undivided and non- reductionist knowledge in the reproductive field. It is necessary to make men visible as fathers in the scientific sphere, to break gender stereotypes, and to incorporate childrearing co-responsibility in social policies and practices as a matter of right.

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