Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38490173›Full record

ReviewCell2024

Sex contextualism in laboratory research: Enhancing rigor and precision in the study of sex-related variables.

Madeleine Pape, Miriam Miyagi, Stacey A Ritz, Marion Boulicault, Sarah S Richardson, Donna L Maney

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Cell, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Claims of sex-dependent effects in the behavioral and brain sciences are infrequently supported by valid statistical comparisons.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Sex and Gender Identities Are Emergent Properties of Neural Complexity.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Toward Sex-Specific Biomaterials Innovation: A Perspective.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2025
    Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Madeleine PapeInstitute of Social Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: madeleine.pape@unil.ch.
Miriam MiyagiCenter for Computational Molecular Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Stacey A RitzDepartment of Pathology & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Marion BoulicaultDepartment of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Sarah S RichardsonDepartment of the History of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Donna L ManeyDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Harvard-Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Funding

SCISIPBIO: Maximizing rigor and reproducibility when considering Sex as a Biological Variable in researchR01GM152543 · NIGMS · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI DONNA L MANEY, Colby Vorland · 2023 to 2026
$734k
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM152543
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Understanding sex-related variation in health and illness requires rigorous and precise approaches to revealing underlying mechanisms. A first step is to recognize that sex is not in and of itself a causal mechanism; rather, it is a classification system comprising a set of categories, usually assigned according to a range of varying traits. Moving beyond sex as a system of classification to working with concrete and measurable sex-related variables is necessary for precision. Whether and how these sex-related variables matter-and what patterns of difference they contribute to-will vary in context-specific ways. Second, when researchers incorporate these sex-related variables into research designs, rigorous analytical methods are needed to allow strongly supported conclusions. Third, the interpretation and reporting of sex-related variation require care to ensure that basic and preclinical research advance health equity for all.

Indexed as

Biomedical ResearchHealth EquitySexHumansgenderhealth equityprecision medicineresearch methodsrigor and reproducibility in sciencesex as a biological variablesex contextualismsex differences

Identifiers

PMID38490173
PMCPMC11219044

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.