New Author Guidelines for Displaying Data and Reporting Data Analysis and Statistical Methods in Experimental...

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
• Scientific Publishing
• Biostatistics

Background:

• The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) has updated author instructions for key journals.
• Revisions focus on improving the rigor and clarity of data analysis and reporting in scientific publications.
• The goal is to enhance the transparency and reduce bias in research findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the recent revisions to author guidelines for ASPET journals.
• To explain the scientific rationale behind the updated statistical analysis and reporting requirements.
• To promote more granular and transparent reporting of experimental designs and results.

Main Methods:

• Distinguishing between preplanned (hypothesis-testing) and exploratory experiments.
• Requiring clear explanations for sample size determination and statistical test selection.
• Mandating disclosure of outlier exclusion criteria and methods.

Main Results:

• Variability reporting should use standard deviation (S.D.) or interquartile range, not standard error (S.E.).
• Precision should be reported using confidence intervals.
• Effect sizes with confidence intervals are preferred over P values for reporting findings.

Conclusions:

• The revised guidelines advocate for more detailed descriptions of experimental procedures and outcomes.
• Data visualization should prioritize granularity, favoring scatter plots over bar graphs where appropriate.
• These changes aim to foster less biased and more reproducible scientific research.