NINR funding dedicated to sexual and gender minority health: 1987-2018

Background: Despite multiple federal initiatives and calls to action, nursing literature on the health of sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations remains sparse. Low levels of funding for SGM-focused research may be a factor.

Purpose: To examine the proportion and focus of National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)-funded projects that address SGM health, the number and type of publications arising from that funding, and the reach of those publications over time.

Methods: NINR-funded grants focused on SGM research and bibliometrics of resultant publications were identified using multiple search strategies in NIH RePORTER and PubMed and Scopus, respectively.

Findings: Since 1987, NINR has funded 25 projects addressing the health of SGM populations. Pre-doctoral fellowship funding resulted in more publications in nursing journals than research grant funding.

Discussion: There are clear differences in patterns of funding for fellowships and research grants with corresponding differences in publications and impact on the nursing literature.