Race to publish distorts science

28/04-10 kl. 06:00 World
pressure to publish Photo: Photos.com Researchers from US states with higher productivity are more likely to publish positive results, new study shows

Measuring scientists based on volume of citations skews research outcomes to the positive, new study suggests

by Luci Ellis

Competition for research funding and academic positions based on the volume of citations gives overly positive research results. This is according to the British education news site Timeshighered.com.

A study, conducted by Daniele Fanelli of the University of Edinburgh, finds that researchers report more positive results for their experiments in US states with the highest academic productivity.

Publish or perish

Competition for research positions and funding, »combined with an increasing use of bibliometric parameters to evaluate careers ... pressures scientists into producing 'publishable' results,« explains Daniele Fanelli, Marie Curie research fellow at Edinburgh's Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation.

»There is quite a longstanding discussion about whether this growing culture of 'publish or perish' in academia is actually distorting the scientific process itself,« explains Fanelli.

Read the University Post article about the newly implemented Danish bibliometry system here.

Fanelli's study is the first to attempt to verify the distortion effect in scientific literature across all fields.

Outcome predicted by address

»In a random sample of 1,316 papers that declared to have tested a hypothesis in all disciplines, outcomes could be significantly predicted by knowing the addresses of the corresponding authors,« writes Fanelli in his paper Do Pressures to Publish Increase Scientists' Bias? An Empirical Support from US States Data, published this week in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.

»Those based in US states where researchers publish more papers per capita were significantly more likely to report positive results,« he continues.

Positive results accounted under half of the total in Nevada, North Dakota and Mississippi.

However, states such as Michigan, Ohio, District of Columbia and Nebraska reported positive results for between 95 and 100 per cent.

Negative results reinterpreted

According to the Fanelli, scientific papers are more likely to be accepted by journals if they report positive results that support a hypothesis.

He argues that negative results most likely »either went completely unpublished or were somehow turned into positive through selective reporting, post-hoc reinterpretation, and alteration of methods, analyses and data«.

luci@adm.ku.dk

0 comments

Write a comment

Join the debate read rules for debate here.
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.
AnnasExperiment
23/05-12 kl. 06:00 Culture

Photo Competition: Show us your room

Last chance! Send us a photo of your room before tonight at 24:00 and win tickets to the NorthSide Festival

Cleaning in factory
22/05-12 kl. 11:01 Education

Unskilled jobs: 10 pros and cons

You’ve graduated from uni and you can’t get a job. The local job centre tells you to work in a pizzeria or at the local supermarket. But is it a good move to do what they say? Here’s a qualified list of pros and cons from an expert

See also:
Lucky Spanish girl gets the job
For Greek student, there is just the pizzeria
braindrainorgane
22/05-12 kl. 06:00 World

Study shows where brains drain, or gain

A new study shows where scientists migrate to, and why. For foreign scientists in Denmark the main motivators are careers and prestige

See also:
Best and brightest consider leaving – for good
Universities struggle in ‘brain game’
raftillustration
20/05-12 kl. 06:00 Culture

The experts: How to make your own job

Entrepreneurship is a field filled with myths: One of them is that it is hard to start up something on your own. The experts have offered to share their tips

See also:
Crisis, what crisis? More student start-ups
Innovator: Don’t be afraid to fail
gregoryrockson
20/05-12 kl. 06:00 Campus

Innovator: Don’t be afraid to fail

In 2011, Gregory and two friends started the ‘Copenhagen Union’. Deliberately unambitious at the start, the initiative now trains students and organizes high-profile debates

See also:
The experts: How to make your own job
Crisis, what crisis? More student start-ups
studentstartups
19/05-12 kl. 06:00 Education

Crisis, what crisis? More student start-ups

Data shows that students are using the recession as an opportunity. More are starting businesses


Subscribe to newsletter

Are Danish students spoilt?

Comment: Education is not just to get a job

Words like ‘critical skills’ and ‘reflexivity’ are just trendy buzz. Instead we need to imagine a just world, argues Amir Susic, a humanities student at the University of Copenhagen


Kontakt redaktionen

Write us an e-mail: uni-avis@adm.ku.dk

University of Copenhagen
Nørregade 10
1165 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Tel. +45 35 32 28 98

Copyright 2009 © Universitetsavisen.ku.dk