The editors of Annals of Surgery have retracted a new paper on the “modern surgeon” after twitter critics pointed out the paper referred to surgeons using only male pronouns.
The paper — “Modern Surgeon: Still a Master of His Trade or Just an Operator of Medical Equipment?” — was a copy of a speech from the president of the European Surgical Association Dr. Marek Krawczyk.
Dear @AnnalsofSurgery, would you care to comment on why this article refers to surgeons as ‘he’? Certainly not ‘modern’ in my eyes https://t.co/owcyylUG7X
— Natalie Blencowe (@NatalieBlencowe) July 21, 2017
Twitter critics were quick to point out that the choice of language by the journal did not reflect the important work of women in the field. “Unfortunately, our own editorial review did not catch the singular use of male pronouns to refer to surgeons,” the journal’s editors said in a statement.
Statement from the Annals of Surgery Editorial Board regarding recent publication and retraction. pic.twitter.com/JI3dmz8NaZ
— Annals of Surgery (@AnnalsofSurgery) July 23, 2017