Why Null Results Rarely See the Light of Day. Mervis, J. 345(6200):992.
Why Null Results Rarely See the Light of Day [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
A team at Stanford University reports online this week in Science that scientists are unlikely to even write up an experiment that produces so-called null results. A study of 221 survey-based experiments funded by the TESS (Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences) program at the National Science Foundation has found that almost two-thirds of the experiments yielding null findings are stuck in a file drawer rather than being submitted to a journal, and only 21\,% are published. In contrast, 96\,% of the experiments that yield strong results are written up, and 62\,% of them are published. Such practices by researchers can skew the literature and lead to wasteful duplication, the authors argue. To combat the problem, the authors call for a social science registry that would contain all such data, as well as descriptions of the methodology used to analyze the results.
@article{mervisWhyNullResults2014,
  title = {Why Null Results Rarely See the Light of Day},
  author = {Mervis, Jeffrey},
  date = {2014-08},
  journaltitle = {Science},
  volume = {345},
  pages = {992},
  issn = {1095-9203},
  doi = {10.1126/science.345.6200.992},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/science.345.6200.992},
  abstract = {A team at Stanford University reports online this week in Science that scientists are unlikely to even write up an experiment that produces so-called null results. A study of 221 survey-based experiments funded by the TESS (Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences) program at the National Science Foundation has found that almost two-thirds of the experiments yielding null findings are stuck in a file drawer rather than being submitted to a journal, and only 21\,\% are published. In contrast, 96\,\% of the experiments that yield strong results are written up, and 62\,\% of them are published. Such practices by researchers can skew the literature and lead to wasteful duplication, the authors argue. To combat the problem, the authors call for a social science registry that would contain all such data, as well as descriptions of the methodology used to analyze the results.},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-13340361,publication-bias,publish-or-perish,research-management,science-ethics,scientific-communication},
  number = {6200}
}

Downloads: 0