International Olympic Committee consensus statements
Since 2009, the journal has partnered with the
International Olympic Committee to produce regular consensus statements regarding important issues in sports injury prevention and elite sport. Some of the recent examples include Consensus Statements on
concussions in sport (the "Berlin guidelines"),[3]relative energy deficiency in sport,[4] the relationship between training load and injury,[5] mental health issues in athletes,[6] and methods for injury and illness surveillance.[7] These statements can assist in guiding clinicians.[8]
Controversies
In October 2018, over 170 academics signed a letter to the journal complaining after it ran an opinion piece by
Aseem Malhotra. The group argued that the article made the "misleading and wrong" statement that
saturated fat did not cause
heart disease.[9]Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of The BMJ, defended the journal's right to challenge "the status quo in some settings".[9]
The IOC consensus statements are also not without controversy, with some writers accusing them[clarification needed] of excessive conflict of interest.[10] Another conflict of interest was raised by Pielke et al. about the accuracy of a study published in the journal later used in the drafting of
IAAF regulations on permitted testosterone levels for female athletes.[11]
A former editor, Paul McCrory, was found to have plagiarised one of more articles he wrote in the journal around 2005, forcing one retraction and public criticism of the governance of the journal during this period.[12][13]
^McCrory, Paul; Meeuwisse, Willem; Dvorak, Jiří; Aubry, Mark; Bailes, Julian; Broglio, Steven; Cantu, Robert C.; Cassidy, David; Echemendia, Ruben J.; Castellani, Rudy J.; Davis, Gavin A.; Ellenbogen, Richard; Emery, Carolyn; Engebretsen, Lars; Feddermann-Demont, Nina; Giza, Christopher C.; Guskiewicz, Kevin M.; Herring, Stanley; Iverson, Grant L.; Johnston, Karen M.; Kissick, James; Kutcher, Jeffrey; Leddy, John J.; Maddocks, David; Makdissi, Michael; Manley, Geoff T.; McCrea, Michael; Meehan, William P.; Nagahiro, Sinji; Patricios, Jon; Putukian, Margot; Schneider, Kathryn J.; Sills, Allen; Tator, Charles H.; Turner, Michael; Vos, Pieter E. (1 June 2017).
"Consensus statement on concussion in sport—the 5th international conference on concussion in sport held in Berlin, October 2016". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 51 (11): 838–847.
doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097699.
hdl:2263/61384.
^Mountjoy, Margo; Sundgot-Borgen, Jorunn Kaiander; Burke, Louise M.; Ackerman, Kathryn E.; Blauwet, Cheri; Constantini, Naama; Lebrun, Constance; Lundy, Bronwen; Melin, Anna Katarina; Meyer, Nanna L.; Sherman, Roberta T.; Tenforde, Adam S.; Torstveit, Monica Klungland; Budgett, Richard (1 June 2018).
"IOC consensus statement on relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S): 2018 update". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 52 (11): 687–697.
doi:10.1136/bjsports-2018-099193.