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Are studies reporting significant results more likely to be published?
Despina Koletsi1, Anthi Karagianni, Nikolaos Pandis
1Private practice, Athens, Greece.
Summary
Journals with impact factors are more likely to publish statistically significant results. This bias may affect the reliability of systematic reviews and scientific literature.
Area of Science:
- Orthodontics
- Scientific Publishing
- Biomedical Research
Background:
- Investigating the proportion of articles reporting significant effects.
- Assessing if higher impact factor journals publish more significant results.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that journal impact factors influence the reporting of statistically significant findings in orthodontic research.
Main Methods:
- Hand-searched 5 orthodontic journals (2004-2008).
- Included 1785 articles with statistical analysis.
- Used logistic regression to analyze the impact of journal impact factor and subject category on statistical significance.
Main Results:
- Journals with impact factors were 1.99 times more likely to publish statistically significant results (P=0.02).
- Significant results were reported in 88% of articles in high impact factor journals vs. 12% in others.
- Behavioral/psychological and diagnostic/treatment articles had higher odds of non-significant findings compared to biomaterials/biomechanics.
Conclusions:
- Journals exhibit a preference for publishing significant results.
- This preference may stem from author, editor, and reviewer biases.
- The findings have implications for the reliability of systematic reviews.
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