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Publication Bias Reconsidered

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2017

Lee Sigelman
Lee Sigelman*
Affiliation:
The George Washington University
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Abstract

In political science and many other disciplines, statistically significant results—rejections of the null hypothesis—are achieved more frequently in published than in unpublished studies. Such “publication bias” is generally seen as the consequence of a widespread prejudice against statistically nonsignificant results. I argue that evidence of such a prejudice is in surprisingly short supply and that publication bias can occur even in the absence of such a prejudice and even if the review process is functioning perfectly. More importantly, publication bias may stem from dutiful application of standards of scientific inquiry rather than from irrational prejudice.

Type
Research Article
Information
Political Analysis , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , 16 December 1999 , pp. 201 - 210
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by the Society for Political Methodology 

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