Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38773654›Full record

ArticlePhilosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM2024

Epistemic appropriation and the ethics of engaging with trans community knowledge in the context of mental healthcare research.

Francis Myerscough, Lydia Schneider-Reuter, Mirjam Faissner

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Philosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Co-Design With Mothers and Professionals to Enhance Care for Mothers Experiencing Adversity: Development of the METIC Model.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Intersectionality and discriminatory practices within mentalhealth care.Philosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM · 2024
    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

3 authors.

Francis MyerscoughPhoenix Song Project, Bristol, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9646-5229
Lydia Schneider-ReuterInstitute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.ORCID 0009-0009-8054-1002
Mirjam FaissnerDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. mirjam.faissner@charite.de.ORCID 0000-0002-9635-7850

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mental healthcare research increasingly focuses the needs of trans people and, in doing so, acknowledges knowledge and epistemic resources developed in trans communities. In this article, we aim to raise awareness of an ethical issue described by Emmalon Davis that may arise in the context of engaging with community knowledge and epistemic resources: the risk of epistemic appropriation. It is composed of two harms (1) a detachment of epistemic resources developed in the originating community and (2) a misdirection of these epistemic resources for epistemic goals of a dominant community. In this article, we map and discuss the ethical concerns in using knowledge originating in trans communities in terms of epistemic appropriation in the context of mental healthcare research. We first argue that misgendering, failing to reference non-academic sources and a lack of attribution in community authorship are forms of epistemic detachment. Second, we problematize cases of epistemic misdirection of trans epistemic resources, focusing on the examples of detransition and transition regret. We discuss harms related to epistemic appropriation in relationship to risks to safety. The article aims to raise awareness about the risk of epistemic appropriation both in researchers engaging with trans knowledge as well as in mental healthcare workers who seek information on trans.

Indexed as

KnowledgeHealth Services ResearchHumansEpistemic injusticeGender diversityResearch ethicsStructural oppressionTrans rights

Identifiers

PMID38773654
PMCPMC11110439

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.