The GSMA method was used to synthesize the evidence for linkage across multiple genome scans. In the primary GSMA, chromosomes are divided into approximately equal length bins traditionally ∼30 cM, generating a total number of 118 bins on the autosomes based on the Marshfield genetic map. The notation “c.n” for the bin numbering is used to refer to the nth bin on chromosome c. For each study, each bin was assigned a within-study rank by its highest LOD, NPL or Z score or minimum P-value, so that the bin with the highest linkage score or minimum P-value is assigned a rank 118 and other bins are ranked in the descending order of their strength for linkage. The ranks were then summed across studies for each bin to obtain the summed rank (SR), which forms the basic test statistic for assessing linkage within the bin. Bins with high SR may show significant evidence for linkage.
