Table 1 Classification of the sex and gender terms

Correct

Any of the following.

1. Male or female for sex and an adequate definition of sex (biological).

2. Men or women for gender and an adequate definition of gender (cultural and socially determined roles).

Incorrect

Any of the following.

1. Male or female for gender.

2. Men or women for sex.

Unclear

Any of the following.

1. Terms for sex or gender used without defining sex or gender. For example, if a review stated that the sex of the participants was male (56%) and female (64%), but there was no definition for sex, we judged the terminology as unclear because we could not know that the review was referring to sex or gender.

2. Terms inconsistently used in the review. For example, the review used the terms ‘male’ and ‘men’ for the same concept.

3. Abbreviations used without the full term provided.

Not applicable

No mention to sex or gender