Sharpe, M C, Archard, L C, Banatvala, J E et al. · Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 1991 · DOI
This 1991 document provides guidelines for how researchers should study ME/CFS to ensure consistent and reliable findings. Rather than reporting new experimental results, it offers recommendations on how to standardize research methods, study design, and patient definitions. It represents the thinking of leading medical experts who were trying to establish a common framework for ME/CFS research.
This guideline document was influential in establishing consensus on how ME/CFS should be studied, which helped improve research quality and comparability across institutions. Having standardized research frameworks is essential for advancing scientific understanding and ensuring that findings from different studies can be meaningfully compared and built upon.
This guideline document does not prove any specific facts about ME/CFS causes, mechanisms, or treatments—it provides recommendations for how research should be conducted. It represents expert consensus from 1991 and does not constitute experimental evidence itself; recommendations may need updating as research methods and disease understanding evolve.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Sharpe, M C, Archard, L C, Banatvala, J E, Borysiewicz, L K, Clare, A W, David, A, et al. (1991). A report--chronic fatigue syndrome: guidelines for research.. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/014107689108400224
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-sharpe-1991-report-chronic,
author = {Sharpe, M C and Archard, L C and Banatvala, J E and Borysiewicz, L K and Clare, A W and David, A and Edwards, R H and Hawton, K E and Lambert, H P and Lane, R J},
title = {A report--chronic fatigue syndrome: guidelines for research.},
journal = {Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine},
year = {1991},
doi = {10.1177/014107689108400224},
note = {PubMed: 1999813},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sharpe-1991-report-chronic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sharpe-1991-report-chronic
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