News

NIH-funded research lags in reporting sex differences, new study finds

STAT · Annalisa Merelli and Anil Oza · last updated

Fewer than half of papers published by NIH-funded researchers analyze or report their data by sex, which could make it harder to know what the results mean for men and women, a new study found.

Over a decade ago, the National Institutes of Health set out to promote sex-inclusivity in study design by introducing the expectation that research it funded consider sex as a biological variable (SABV). The guidelines are broad, asking researchers to consider SABV in their design, analysis, and reporting, without mandating that sex differences be examined in the results. 

 

Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity

State of Play

In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug. 

Fact-checking and its detractors


More informationabout Information integrity