Sorting the File Drawer: A Typology for Describing Unpublished Studies

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Research Methodology
• Scientific Publishing

Background:

• Many studies remain unpublished, leading to potential biases in the scientific literature.
• Understanding the reasons for nonpublication is crucial for accurate interpretation of research findings.
• Publication bias can distort the perceived evidence base in various scientific fields.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a typology of unpublished studies.
• To categorize reasons for nonpublication based on result-dependence and decision-maker.
• To differentiate between problematic and potentially beneficial publication biases.

Main Methods:

• Development of a typology for classifying unpublished studies.
• Categorization of nonpublication reasons into result-dependent and result-independent.
• Analysis of how reasons for nonpublication influence publication decisions by researchers and editors.

Main Results:

• Nonpublication reasons were classified by awareness of study results and the decision-maker (researcher vs. editor).
• Result-independent reasons are less prone to motivated reasoning than result-dependent reasons.
• Some nonpublication reasons may lead to beneficial, rather than problematic, publication bias.

Conclusions:

• The proposed typology aids in understanding the landscape of unpublished studies in psychology.
• It offers insights into publication biases and research dissemination practices.
• The typology can guide researchers in managing their unpublished work and understanding potential biases.