Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    An AI-Driven Work Force
    AI and Microcredentials
Sign In
Scholarship

Journal Issues Revised Version of Controversial Paper That Questioned Why Some Teens Identify as Transgender

By Tom Bartlett March 19, 2019
Paper revised

Following a review that lasted more than six months, the journal PLOS ONE has published a revised version of a controversial paper by a Brown University researcher on whether social media and the influence of friends lead some teenagers to identify as transgender — a theory that’s been dubbed Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

Following a review that lasted more than six months, the journal PLOS ONE has published a revised version of a controversial paper by a Brown University researcher on whether social media and the influence of friends lead some teenagers to identify as transgender — a theory that’s been dubbed Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria.

The new version adds context and softens language that drew complaints from transgender advocates, but the primary findings in the paper remain unchanged.

When the original paper was published last August, those advocates objected to the methodology and to certain phrases, accusing its author, Lisa Littman, an assistant professor of the practice of behavioral and social sciences at Brown, of using “transphobic dog whistles” and engaging in hate speech. Among the objections was that only parents of transgender-identified children were surveyed, rather than the children themselves, and that phrases like “cluster outbreak” made it sound as if identifying as transgender were like contracting a disease. In a widely discussed article on Medium, Julia Serano, a biologist and author of Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism, called the concept of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, or ROGD, “scientifically specious” and questioned the quality of Littman’s research.

In the new version of the paper, the word “outbreak” has been excised, and there’s further emphasis on how the data was collected. It also notes that ROGD has “not yet been clinically validated.” But the thrust of the paper remains the same. Littman points to evidence suggesting that some teenagers, mostly girls, might be identifying as transgender as a “maladaptive coping mechanism” instead of addressing underlying issues related to trauma and mental health.

In an interview, Littman said she doesn’t doubt that gender dysphoria is a genuine phenomenon, nor does she consider her research anti-transgender. “There are some people who benefit from transition, and there are some people who are harmed by transition,” she said. “And I don’t think it’s a conflict to care about both of those populations.” Via email, Littman writes that she is “pleased that my work has withstood this extensive peer-review process” and that she is “very happy with the final product.”

In a blog post, PLOS ONE’s editor in chief, Joerg Heber, sounded a more apologetic note. He wrote that “the study, including its goals, methodology, and conclusions, were not adequately framed in the published version, and that these needed to be corrected.” Heber went on to apologize to the transgender community, writing that the journal had failed to provide sufficient context and to be appropriately sensitive. “We should have taken the interests and the often difficult situation of adolescents experiencing gender incongruence into account when handling this manuscript for publication,” he wrote.

In an interview, Heber said that PLOS ONE should have sent the paper back to Littman to re-frame some sections before it was published, and that he considered not doing so a failure of the journal’s process. But he affirmed Littman’s assertion that her findings were not disputed by the journal’s monthslong review. “At its core, the survey of the parents stands as it is,” Heber said. “We let the original results stand.”

‘Only Indirect Evidence’

In a commentary published along with the revised paper, Angelo Brandelli Costa, an academic editor for PLOS ONE, writes that Littman’s paper provides “only indirect evidence of the role of the influence of social and media contagion on young people’s gender identity” and that further investigation is warranted. Littman has also cited the limitations of what she calls a “descriptive exploratory” study along with calling for more research.

When the original paper was published, Brown promoted it on the university’s website, as it often does with notable research by its professors. However, after the controversy and the announcement that PLOS ONE would conduct a review, the references to the paper were removed. In a lengthy statement last fall, Brown defended that action, arguing that the university “does not shy away from controversial research” but that, in this case, “concerns about research design and methods” led to the decision to no longer feature Littman’s study.

That, in turn, led to complaints that both Brown and PLOS ONE were caving to advocates rather than backing a peer-reviewed scientific paper. A Fox News article accused the university of “censoring its own study on transgender youth.” In an essay for Quillette, Jeffrey S. Flier, a former dean of Harvard Medical School, questioned both Brown’s and PLOS ONE’s responses, arguing that the ability to conduct research must be protected “whether or not the methods and conclusions provoke controversy.”

ADVERTISEMENT

While the PLOS ONE review and Brown’s backpedaling cast a shadow over Littman’s research, the paper remained available on the journal’s website and has so far been viewed more than 145,000 times, a number far higher than the majority of PLOS ONE papers.

Tom Bartlett is a senior writer who covers science and other things. Follow him on Twitter @tebartl.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Scholarship & Research Gender
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
About the Author
Tom Bartlett
Tom Bartlett is a senior writer who covers science and ideas. Follow him on Twitter @tebartl.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Content

Amid Heightened Interest, Transgender Studies Weighs Newfound Influence

More News

Photo illustration showing internal email text snippets over a photo of a University of Iowa campus quad
Red-state reticence
Facing Research Cuts, Officials at U. of Iowa Spoke of a ‘Limited Ability to Publicly Fight This’
Photo illustration showing Santa Ono seated, places small in the corner of a dark space
'Unrelentingly Sad'
Santa Ono Wanted a Presidency. He Became a Pariah.
Illustration of a rushing crowd carrying HSI letters
Seeking precedent
Funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions Is Discriminatory and Unconstitutional, Lawsuit Argues
Photo-based illustration of scissors cutting through paper that is a photo of an idyllic liberal arts college campus on one side and money on the other
Finance
Small Colleges Are Banding Together Against a Higher Endowment Tax. This Is Why.

From The Review

Football game between UCLA and Colorado University, at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., Sept. 24, 2022.
The Review | Opinion
My University Values Football More Than Education
By Sigman Byrd
Photo- and type-based illustration depicting the acronym AAUP with the second A as the arrow of a compass and facing not north but southeast.
The Review | Essay
The Unraveling of the AAUP
By Matthew W. Finkin
Photo-based illustration of the Capitol building dome propped on a stick attached to a string, like a trap.
The Review | Opinion
Colleges Can’t Trust the Federal Government. What Now?
By Brian Rosenberg

Upcoming Events

Plain_Acuity_DurableSkills_VF.png
Why Employers Value ‘Durable’ Skills
Warwick_Leadership_Javi.png
University Transformation: a Global Leadership Perspective
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin