Brown University in Rhode Island has received heavy criticism over its decision to remove news about a study on transgender youth from its website.

The Providence Journal reports the paper by Brown assistant professor Lisa Littman suggested gender dysphoria occurs during the onset of puberty, and it suggested girls might decide they are transgender due to peer pressure or online influences.

The study used the observations of parents, who critics say could be politically biased or against their children identifying as transgender.

Brown representatives say they removed the article because of concerns over the study's research methodology.

Littman says she stands by the conclusion of her study.

She has launched an online petition to encourage the university to resist "ideologically-based attempts to squelch controversial research evidence."