Guidance Documents


Updated Recommendations for Collecting Data on Gender Identity, Sex Assigned at Birth, Intersex Status, and Sexual Orientation, August 2023

The Cross Network Transgender and Gender Diverse (TGD) Working Group has updated the recommendations for collecting data on gender identity, sex assigned at birth, intersex status, and sexual orientation. The Working Group first issued data collection recommendations in 2015, updated them in March 2020, and is now issuing a second update to reflect current best practices, including several key recommendations contained in the consensus report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation (2022). 


NIAID Language Guide 

The NIAID HIV Language Guide was developed to help encourage the use of person-first, non-stigmatizing language in research. (Spanish and Portuguese translations are forthcoming.) There are also supporting materials available on the NIAID website to encourage the use of person-first language at meetings and conferences; template language is provided for meeting invitations and for opening remarks.