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Introduction To improve the rigor of science, experimental evidence for scientific claims ideally needs to be replicated repeatedly with comparable analyses and new data to increase the collective confidence in the veracity of those claims. Large replication projects in psychology and cancer biology have evaluated the replicability of their fields but no collaborative effort has been undertaken in sports and exercise science. We propose to undertake such an effort here. As this is the first large replication project in this field, there is no agreed-upon protocol for selecting studies to replicate. Criticism of previous selection protocols include claims they were non-randomised and non-representative. Any selection protocol in sports and exercise science must be representative to provide an accurate estimate of replicability of the field. Our aim is to produce a protocol for selecting studies to replicate for inclusion in a large replication project in sports and exercise science. Methods The proposed selection protocol uses multiple inclusion and exclusion criteria for replication study selection, including: the year of publication and citation rankings, research disciplines, study types, the research question and key dependent variable, study methods and feasibility. Studies selected for replication will be stratified into pools based on instrumentation and expertise required, and will then be allocated to volunteer laboratories for replication. Replication outcomes will be assessed using a multiple inferential strategy and descriptive information will be reported regarding the final number of included and excluded studies, and original author responses to requests for raw data.

Purpose Prior evidence indicates that acute heat stress and aerobic exercise independently reduce arterial stiffness. The combined effects of exercise and heat stress on PWV are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of heat stress with passive heating and exercise in the heat on arterial stiffness. Methods Nine participants ( n  = 3 females, 47 ± 11 years old; 24.1 ± 2.8 kg/m 2 ) completed four trials. In a control trial, participants rested supine (CON). In a passive heating trial (PH), participants were heated with a water-perfusion suit. In two other trials, participants cycled at ~50% of V ˙ O 2 peak in a hot (~40 °C; HC trial) or cool (~15 °C; CC trial) environment. Arterial stiffness, measured by PWV, was obtained at baseline and after each intervention (immediately, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min post). Central PWV ( C PWV ) was assessed between the carotid/femoral artery sites. Upper and lower peripheral PWV was assessed using the radial/carotid ( U PWV ) and dorsalis pedis/femoral ( L PWV ) artery sites. The mean body temperature ( T B ) was calculated from the skin and rectal temperatures. Results No significant changes in T B were observed during the CON and CC trials. As expected, the PH and HC trials elevated T B 2.69 ± 0.23 °C and 1.67 ± 0.27 °C, respectively ( p  < 0.01). PWV did not change in CON, CC, or HC ( p  > 0.05). However, in the PH trial, U PWV was reduced immediately (−107 ± 81 cm/s) and 15 min (−93 ± 82 cm/s) post-heating ( p  < 0.05). Conclusions Heat stress via exercise in the heat does not acutely change arterial stiffness. However, passive heating reduces U PWV , indicating that heat stress has an independent effect on PWV.

Rural cancer survivors have worse outcomes than their urban counterparts. To improve outcomes, it is essential that rural survivors participate in research, yet they are underrepresented in cancer research. The aim of this study was to assess urban-rural differences in participation in a cancer survivorship survey and differences in mode of participation (mail, online, or phone) by rurality and age. We developed a survivorship needs assessment survey and invited cancer survivors to participate by mail, online, or phone. We compared participation between rural and urban invitees and examined differences in mode of participation by rurality and age. A quarter (25.47%) of invited rural patients and 27.84% of invited urban patients participated in the survivorship study. The probability of participation by urban survivors was approximately 1.09 times higher than for rural survivors ( (1) = 4.31, = 0.038). Rural survivors were more likely to participate by mail (average difference [Rural-Urban] = 9.64%, < 0.001), while urban survivors were more likely to participate online (average difference [Urban-Rural] = 8.77%, < 0.001). As participant age increased, the likelihood of survey participation by mail increased (1.16% per year of age, < 0.001) while the probability of participating online decreased by 1.20% per year of age ( < 0.001). To ensure equitable access to research for rural and older cancer survivors, researchers should design studies with a range of participation modes. Non-digital methods, such as mailed paper surveys, appear to promote participation among rural and older survivors.

Curcumin, a turmeric extract, may protect against cardiovascular diseases by enhancing endothelial function. In this randomized controlled double-blind parallel prospective study, fifty-nine healthy adults were assigned to placebo, 50 mg (50 mg), or 200 mg (200 mg) curcumin, for 8 weeks. The higher curcumin (200 mg) supplementation produced a dose-mediated improvement in endothelial function measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD). The outcome was a clinically substantial 3.0% increase (90% CI 0.7 to 5.3%, p = 0.032 ; benefit : harm odds ratio 546 : 1) with the 200 mg dose, relative to placebo. The 50 mg dose also increased FMD relative to placebo by 1.7% (−0.6 to 4.0%, p = 0.23 ; 25 : 1), but the outcome was not clinically decisive. In apparently healthy adults, 8 weeks of 200 mg oral curcumin supplementation resulted in a clinically meaningful improvement in endothelial function as measured by FMD. Oral curcumin supplementation may present a simple lifestyle strategy for decreasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. This trial was registered at ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN90184217).

Eating disorders are serious psychological disorders with long term health impacts. Athletic populations, tend to have higher incidences of eating disorders compared to the general population. Yet there is little known about athletes' eating disorder knowledge and how it relates to their confidence in their knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to evaluate collegiate female athletes' eating disorder (ED) knowledge and confidence in their knowledge. 51 participants were recruited from a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) university in the mid-west and asked to complete a 30-question exam assessing one's knowledge of five different categories related to eating disorders. Confidence in the correctness of answers was assessed with a 5-point Likert-scale (1 = very unconfident, 5 = very confident). A one-way ANOVA was used to determine differences between scores on different categories and overall scores. A simple regression analysis was used to determine if confidence or age was predictive in knowledge scores. The average score of participants was 69.1%, SD = 10.8% with an average confidence of 3.69/5, SD = 0.33. Athletes scored lowest with regards to Identifying Signs and Symptoms of EDs compared to other sub-scores (  < 0.05). There was no relationship between knowledge and confidence scores. There is limited ED knowledge among collegiate female athletes. This may be problematic as many athletes appear confident in the correctness of their answers despite these low scores. Coaches should be aware of this lack of knowledge and work with clinical practitioners, such as dieticians, team physicians and athletic trainers to educate and monitor their athletes on eating disorders, specifically signs and symptoms.

The primary means of disseminating sport and exercise science research is currently through journal articles. However, not all studies, especially those with null findings, make it to formal publication. This publication bias towards positive findings may contribute to questionable research practices. Preregistration is a solution to prevent the publication of distorted evidence resulting from this system. This process asks authors to register their hypotheses and methods before data collection on a publicly available repository or by submitting a Registered Report. In the Registered Report format, authors submit a stage 1 manuscript to a participating journal that includes an introduction, methods, and any pilot data indicating the exploratory or confirmatory nature of the study. After a stage 1 peer review, the manuscript can then be offered in-principle acceptance, rejected, or sent back for revisions to improve the quality of the study. If accepted, the project is guaranteed publication, assuming the authors follow the data collection and analysis protocol. After data collection, authors re-submit a stage 2 manuscript that includes the results and discussion, and the study is evaluated on clarity and conformity with the planned analysis. In its final form, Registered Reports appear almost identical to a typical publication, but give readers confidence that the hypotheses and main analyses are less susceptible to bias from questionable research practices. From this perspective, we argue that inclusion of Registered Reports by researchers and journals will improve the transparency, replicability, and trust in sport and exercise science research. The preprint version of this work is available on SportR χ iv: https://osf.io/preprints/sportrxiv/fxe7a/ .

The independent effects of hypohydration and hyperthermia on cognition and mood is unclear since the two stresses often confound each other. Further, it is unknown if obese individuals have the same impairments during hyperthermia and hypohydration that is often observed in non-obese individuals. The current study was designed to assess the independent and combined effects of mild hypohydration and hyperthermia on cognition, mood, and mental task load in obese and non-obese females. Twenty-one healthy females participated in two passive heating trials, wherein they were either euhydrated or hypohydrated prior to and throughout passive heating. Cognition (ImPACT), mental task load (NASA-TLX), and mood (Brunel Mood Scale; BRUMS) were measured before and after a 1.0 °C increase in core temperature (T ). After a 1.0 °C T elevation, hypohydration resulted in greater (  < 0.05) body mass loss (-1.14 ± 0.48 vs -0.58 ± 0.48 kg; hypohydrated and euhydrated, respectively) and elevation in serum osmolality (292 ± 4 vs 282 ± 3 mOsm;  < 0.05) versus euhydration. Hypohydration, independent of hyperthermia, did not affect mental task load or mood (  > 0.05). Hyperthermia, regardless of hydration status, impaired (∼5 A.U) measures of memory-based cognition (verbal and visual memory), and increased mental task load, while worsening mood (  < 0.05). Interestingly, obese individuals had increased mental task load while hyperthermic compared to the non-obese individuals (  < 0.05) even while euhydrated. Hypohydration did not exacerbate any heat-related effects on cognition between obese and non-obese females (  > 0.05). These data indicate that hyperthermia independently impairs memory-based aspects of cognitive performance, mental task load, and leads to a negative mood state. Mild hypohydration did not exacerbate the effects of hyperthermia. However, obese individuals had increased mental task load during hyperthermia.

Statistics includes biostatistics, statistics, data science and data analytics departments; epidemiology includes authors from departments of community health, population health, health or public health if they are trained as epidemiologists or statisticians; computer science includes information technology department. Other references provide further examples of common statistical errors in sports science and medicine.6–11 Errors in study design—exercise physiology A study of 14 active men aimed to establish the reliability of a biomarker test used to measure gastrointestinal (GI) integrity during conditions of heat stress.30 Participants performed two intermittent exertional heat stress tests, and GI integrity was measured with several biomarker tests, including the intestinal fatty-acid-binding protein (I-FABP). Women with menstrual disturbances had an average body mass of 77.6 vs 57.9 kg in women without menstrual disturbances. [...]the apparent relationship between low vitamin D and menstrual disturbances may be caused entirely by strong confounding by body mass. Authors in these fields have employed a variety of analytical techniques for identifying differential response, including k-means cluster analysis followed by analysis of variance (ANOVA),37 grouping response based on the SE of measurement,38 and more recently, a novel analytical algorithm was suggested.27 However, none of these approaches are statistically or philosophically grounded, and indeed, they have poor statistical properties, such as high Type I error rates.29 39 Modifications of principal components analysis In another example,26 modifications to the application

We aimed to examine the bias for statistical significance using published confidence intervals in sport and exercise medicine research. Observational study. The abstracts of 48,390 articles, published in 18 sports and exercise medicine journals between 2002 and 2022, were searched using a validated text-mining algorithm that identified and extracted ratio confidence intervals (odds, hazard, and risk ratios). The algorithm identified 1744 abstracts that included ratio confidence intervals, from which 4484 intervals were extracted. After excluding ineligible intervals, the analysis used 3819 intervals, reported as 95 % confidence intervals, from 1599 articles. The cumulative distributions of lower and upper confidence limits were plotted to identify any abnormal patterns, particularly around a ratio of 1 (the null hypothesis). The distributions were compared to those from unbiased reference data, which was not subjected to p-hacking or publication bias. A bias for statistical significance was further investigated using a histogram plot of z-values calculated from the extracted 95 % confidence intervals. There was a marked change in the cumulative distribution of lower and upper bound intervals just over and just under a ratio of 1. The bias for statistical significance was also clear in a stark under-representation of z-values between −1.96 and +1.96, corresponding to p-values above 0.05. There was an excess of published research with statistically significant results just below the standard significance threshold of 0.05, which is indicative of publication bias. Transparent research practices, including the use of registered reports, are needed to reduce the bias in published research.