We would like to invite you to read a new article published in the JOR Spine. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how donor sex is reported in intervertebral disc degeneration  and osteoarthritis preclinical research using human or animal samples and in vivo models. This article is part of the CARTHAGO project, which was funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme.

We found that only 61.9% of the examined articles reported donor sex, with a predominance of male samples, and sex was rarely considered in outcome analyses. Despite some journals requiring sex reporting, a notable percentage of published papers still failed to provide this critical information. These findings underscore the need for improved reporting practices to enhance the translation of research findings to clinical

Zuncheddu D, Buedo P, Stoddart MJ, Creemers LB, Grad S, Waligora M. Biological Sex Is Under-Reported in Cartilage-Related Preclinical Research: A Cross-Sectional Analysis. JOR Spine. 2025 Aug 18;8(3):e70104. doi: 10.1002/jsp2.70104.