The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) critiques of alcohol research: Promoting health benefits and downplaying harms.

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 ton

SUBMITTER: Clay JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12529240 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature