We at Our World in Data have been concerned by an article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on 3 June 2024, entitled Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022.
We understand the article is now subject to an Expression of Concern and is under investigation by the BMJ’s integrity team and editors. We await the outcome of that investigation.
We are concerned that by referring to “‘Our World in Data’ estimates”, the article’s title misattributes the data to us and presents the results as the authors’ original research.
While we republished the data, it was produced by Ariel Karlinsky & Dmitry Kobak in their 2021 study, which we credit prominently.
This misattribution is inaccurate and potentially misleading. As an organization that shares data from researchers and highlights their work, we take the rights and recognition of data producers very seriously.
We have brought this concern to the attention of the BMJ. We are publishing this statement because the Expression of Concern does not refer to the concern we have raised.
In addition, some follow-up press reporting may have implied that the authors found a causal link between COVID-19 vaccination and increased excess mortality during the pandemic. This is unfounded, as the BMJ’s Expression of Concern states:
“This study does not establish any such link. The researchers looked only at trends in excess mortality over time, not its causes. The research does not support the claim that vaccines are a major contributory factor to excess deaths since the start of the pandemic. Vaccines have, in fact, been instrumental in reducing the severe illness and death associated with COVID-19 infection.”
Indeed, research has estimated that the COVID-19 vaccination program prevented 20 million deaths in its first year alone.
We have also written extensively on this topic — explaining how to properly interpret excess mortality estimates and showing that death rates are lower among vaccinated individuals.
If readers would like to explore this subject further, additional examples of related work that we have published in the last few years can be found below.
Where this page came from
This page was imported from Our World in Data. “Statement regarding the British Medical Journal article of 3 June 2024” by Our World in Data team, published by Our World in Data under CC BY 4.0. Changed here: set as a page, its interactive charts shown as pictures. Data from third parties keeps its own licence.
Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.
Licence: CC BY 4.0 · Adapted from ourworldindata.org
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