The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) critiques of alcohol research: Promoting health benefits and downplaying harms
Notice bibliographique
Résumé
Abstract Background and Aims The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR), many of whose members are linked to the alcohol industry, has published over 280 critiques on alcohol and health research. This study investigated whether ISFAR critiques favour studies reporting alcohol's health benefits while being more critical of those identifying harms. We also examined whether industry‐funded studies are more likely to report benefits, and whether ISFAR's critiques reflect the methodological rigor of the studies they assess. Methods We analysed 268 ISFAR critiques published between April 2010 and January 2024, manually coding each underlying study for its content (whether the original study reported alcohol‐related health benefits or harms) and each critique for its tone (positive or negative). Sentiment analysis (SA) algorithms were applied to critique summaries to assess tone using automated methods. Study authors were examined for prior receipt of alcohol industry funding. AMSTAR‐2 and ROBIS tools evaluated risk of bias in 36 systematic reviews and meta‐analyses favoured ( n = 24) or criticised ( n = 12) by ISFAR. Results Studies reporting health benefits had higher odds of receiving positive reviews from ISFAR [odds ratio (OR) = 6.50, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = (3.62–12.00)], as did studies minimising alcohol harms [OR = 2.47, 95% CI = (1.40–4.45)]. Studies reporting health harms had higher odds of receiving negative critiques [OR = 0.29, 95% CI = (0.15–0.14)], as did studies minimising health benefits [OR = 0.21, 95% CI = (0.10–0.41)]. Algorithmic SA replicated these patterns, though the correlation with manual coding was modest [ r = 0.20, 95% CI = (0.08–0.32)]. Studies with industry ties had higher odds of minimising alcohol‐related harms [OR = 1.90, 95% CI = (1.04–3.50)], and those co‐authored by ISFAR members had higher odds of reporting a J‐shaped relationship between alcohol use and health [OR = 2.52, 95% CI = (1.00–6.48)]. No association was found between ISFAR sentiment and study quality as independently assessed by AMSTAR‐2 and ROBIS (BF 01 = 6.13–6.21). Conclusion Critiques from The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) consistently promote alcohol's purported health benefits while minimising evidence of harm, regardless of study quality. These patterns provide a valuable resource for industry actors to shape public perception, downplay risk and influence policy—using strategies that closely resemble those historically employed by the tobacco industry.
Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.
Comment cette classification a été obtenuedéplier
Prédiction distillée sur la base complète
Imitation des enseignantsNi prévalence calibrée, ni vérité terrain. Validation humaine à venir. Apprise à partir de 10 348 étiquettes directes de Codex et de 10 348 étiquettes directes de Gemma. Le mode candidate est l'union des têtes enseignantes seuillées; le consensus est leur intersection. Ces sorties portent le statut machine_predicted_unvalidated et ne sont ni des étiquettes humaines ni des étiquettes directes de modèles de pointe.
Scores Codex et Gemma par catégorie
| Catégorie | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Métarecherche | 0,004 | 0,001 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens strict) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens large) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Bibliométrie | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Études des sciences et des technologies | 0,001 | 0,000 |
| Communication savante | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Science ouverte | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Intégrité de la recherche | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Charge utile insuffisante (le modèle a refusé de juger) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
Scores machine (provisoires)
Les deux têtes enseignantes du modèle étudiant, lues sur ce travail. Un score ordonne la base pour la relecture; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie, et le statut de validation accompagne chaque rangée tel quel.
Scores de référence d'un modèle non mature (critères de maturité non atteints, 7 itérations). Un score ordonne; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · tel quel depuis la passe de notation : score_only signifie que le nombre peut ordonner les travaux, et qu'aucune étiquette de catégorie n'en découleClassification
machine, non validéePrédiction automatique; un appel candidat d’une seule tête enseignante, pas un consensus.
Le détail, modèle par modèle et score par score, se trouve en fin de page sous « Comment cette classification a été obtenue ».