Publication Decisions Revisited: The Effect of the Outcome of Statistical Tests on the Decision to Publish and Vice Versa |
| |
Authors: | T D Sterling W L Rosenbaum J J Weinkam |
| |
Institution: | School of Computing Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Simon Fraser University , Burnaby , B.C. , Canada , V5A 1S6 |
| |
Abstract: | This article presents evidence that published results of scientific investigations are not a representative sample of results of all scientific studies. Research studies from 11 major journals demonstrate the existence of biases that favor studies that observe effects that, on statistical evaluation, have a low probability of erroneously rejecting the so-called null hypothesis (H 0). This practice makes the probability of erroneously rejecting H 0 different for the reader than for the investigator. It introduces two biases in the interpretation of the scientific literature: one due to multiple repetition of studies with false hypothesis, and one due to failure to publish smaller and less significant outcomes of tests of a true hypotheses. These practices distort the results of literature surveys and of meta-analyses. These results also indicate that practice leading to publication bias have not changed over a period of 30 years. |
| |
Keywords: | Bias Null results Publication bias Tests of significance |
|
|