🎓 Academic overreach – Definition: Academic overreach refers to the act of drawing conclusions or recommendations from a study that go beyond what the data objectively support, often for the sake of impact, publication, or perceived authority.

🔬 In scientific research, it includes: Making clinical recommendations from underpowered or exploratory data

Exaggerating the importance or generalizability of findings

Ignoring study limitations or methodological flaws

Misrepresenting absence of significance as proof of equivalence or safety

🧠 Example in context: Claiming that restrictive transfusion is “as good as” liberal transfusion across all acute brain injuries—based on small, heterogeneous RCTs—constitutes academic overreach.

📉 Why it matters: Overreach distorts clinical practice, misleads policy, and undermines scientific integrity by treating weak evidence as strong guidance.