
doi: 10.32942/osf.io/ajyqg , 10.31219/osf.io/ajyqg , 10.1371/journal.pone.0200303 , 10.17605/osf.io/ajyqg , 10.5281/zenodo.13528087 , 10.5281/zenodo.13528086
pmid: 30011289
pmc: PMC6047784
handle: 11343/221069
doi: 10.32942/osf.io/ajyqg , 10.31219/osf.io/ajyqg , 10.1371/journal.pone.0200303 , 10.17605/osf.io/ajyqg , 10.5281/zenodo.13528087 , 10.5281/zenodo.13528086
pmid: 30011289
pmc: PMC6047784
handle: 11343/221069
We surveyed 807 researchers (494 ecologists and 313 evolutionary biologists) about their use of Questionable Research Practices (QRPs), including cherry picking statistically significant results, p hacking, and hypothesising after the results are known (HARKing). We also asked them to estimate the proportion of their colleagues that use each of these QRPs. Several of the QRPs were prevalent within the ecology and evolution research community. Across the two groups, we found 64% of surveyed researchers reported they had at least once failed to report results because they were not statistically significant (cherry picking); 42% had collected more data after inspecting whether results were statistically significant (a form of p hacking) and 51% had reported an unexpected finding as though it had been hypothesised from the start (HARKing). Such practices have been directly implicated in the low rates of reproducible results uncovered by recent large scale replication studies in psychology and other disciplines. The rates of QRPs found in this study are comparable with the rates seen in psychology, indicating that the reproducibility problems discovered in psychology are also likely to be present in ecology and evolution.
Science, Scientific Misconduct, Statistics as Topic, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 150, bats, bat, bepress|Life Sciences|Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, bepress|Life Sciences, Surveys and Questionnaires, Chiroptera, Humans, Animalia, Chordata, Ecology, Research, Q, R, Reproducibility of Results, Life Sciences, Biodiversity, Biological Evolution, Research Personnel, Research Design, Mammalia, Medicine, Research Article
Science, Scientific Misconduct, Statistics as Topic, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 150, bats, bat, bepress|Life Sciences|Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, bepress|Life Sciences, Surveys and Questionnaires, Chiroptera, Humans, Animalia, Chordata, Ecology, Research, Q, R, Reproducibility of Results, Life Sciences, Biodiversity, Biological Evolution, Research Personnel, Research Design, Mammalia, Medicine, Research Article
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 212 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 1% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 1% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 0.1% |
