A Vast Graveyard of Undead Theories: Publication Bias and Psychological Science's Aversion to the Null - PubMed (original) (raw)

A Vast Graveyard of Undead Theories: Publication Bias and Psychological Science's Aversion to the Null

Christopher J Ferguson et al. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012 Nov.

Abstract

Publication bias remains a controversial issue in psychological science. The tendency of psychological science to avoid publishing null results produces a situation that limits the replicability assumption of science, as replication cannot be meaningful without the potential acknowledgment of failed replications. We argue that the field often constructs arguments to block the publication and interpretation of null results and that null results may be further extinguished through questionable researcher practices. Given that science is dependent on the process of falsification, we argue that these problems reduce psychological science's capability to have a proper mechanism for theory falsification, thus resulting in the promulgation of numerous "undead" theories that are ideologically popular but have little basis in fact.

Keywords: fail-safe number; falsification; meta-analyses; null hypothesis significance testing; publication bias.

© The Author(s) 2012.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

• Psychology needs to get tired of winning.
  Haeffel GJ. Haeffel GJ. R Soc Open Sci. 2022 Jun 22;9(6):220099. doi: 10.1098/rsos.220099. eCollection 2022 Jun. R Soc Open Sci. 2022. PMID: 35754994 Free PMC article. Review.
• Science or Art? How Aesthetic Standards Grease the Way Through the Publication Bottleneck but Undermine Science.
  Giner-Sorolla R. Giner-Sorolla R. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012 Nov;7(6):562-71. doi: 10.1177/1745691612457576. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012. PMID: 26168113
• The Rules of the Game Called Psychological Science.
  Bakker M, van Dijk A, Wicherts JM. Bakker M, et al. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012 Nov;7(6):543-54. doi: 10.1177/1745691612459060. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012. PMID: 26168111
• Commentary: Psychological Science's Aversion to the Null.
  Perezgonzalez JD, Frías-Navarro D, Pascual-Llobell J. Perezgonzalez JD, et al. Front Psychol. 2017 Sep 27;8:1715. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01715. eCollection 2017. Front Psychol. 2017. PMID: 29033884 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
• Implications of "Too Good to Be True" for Replication, Theoretical Claims, and Experimental Design: An Example Using Prominent Studies of Racial Bias.
  Francis G. Francis G. Front Psychol. 2016 Sep 22;7:1382. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01382. eCollection 2016. Front Psychol. 2016. PMID: 27713708 Free PMC article. Review.

Cited by

• Exploring the influence of spiritual leadership, leader - member exchange, and traditionality orientation on employee voice behavior.
  Yu Y, Pitafi S. Yu Y, et al. BMC Psychol. 2024 Oct 8;12(1):543. doi: 10.1186/s40359-024-02052-6. BMC Psychol. 2024. PMID: 39380058 Free PMC article.
• Putting Psychology to the Test: Rethinking Model Evaluation Through Benchmarking and Prediction.
  Rocca R, Yarkoni T. Rocca R, et al. Adv Methods Pract Psychol Sci. 2021 Jul-Sep;4(3):10.1177/25152459211026864. doi: 10.1177/25152459211026864. Epub 2021 Sep 23. Adv Methods Pract Psychol Sci. 2021. PMID: 38737598 Free PMC article.
• Signal Smoothing and Syntactic Choices: A Critical Reflection on the UID Hypothesis.
  Juzek TS. Juzek TS. Open Mind (Camb). 2024 Mar 5;8:217-234. doi: 10.1162/opmi_a_00125. eCollection 2024. Open Mind (Camb). 2024. PMID: 38476664 Free PMC article.
• Contextualizing involvement in terrorist violence by considering non-significant findings: Using null results and temporal perspectives to better understand radicalization outcomes.
  Schuurman B, Carthy SL. Schuurman B, et al. PLoS One. 2023 Nov 10;18(11):e0292941. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292941. eCollection 2023. PLoS One. 2023. PMID: 37948411 Free PMC article.
• The role of results in deciding to publish: A direct comparison across authors, reviewers, and editors based on an online survey.
  Muradchanian J, Hoekstra R, Kiers H, van Ravenzwaaij D. Muradchanian J, et al. PLoS One. 2023 Oct 3;18(10):e0292279. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292279. eCollection 2023. PLoS One. 2023. PMID: 37788282 Free PMC article.

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • Atypon