Publication-bias is a systematic distortion in scholarly communication where studies reporting statistically significant or positive results are preferentially published over studies with null, negative, or inconclusive findings. Parameters: (1) operates across the publication pipeline — study submission, peer review, journal selection, and citation; (2) affects all empirical fields but is most documented in medicine, psychology, and pharmacology; (3) measured through funnel plot asymmetry, the file-drawer problem, and comparison of registered trials to published results. Persistence mechanism: sustained by academic incentive structures (publish-or-perish), journal economics (preference for novel/positive findings), and citation network self-reinforcement; mitigated through pre-registration mandates, registered reports, and trial registries. [formal: bias publicationis | substrate: behavior | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
publication-bias
Publication-bias is a systematic distortion in scholarly communication where studies reporting statistically significant or positive results are preferentially published over studies with null, negative, or inconclusive findings. Parameter…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A systematic distortion in scholarly communication whereby studies with statistically significant or positive results are more likely to be published, while studies with null or negative results remain unpublished or are delayed. Human-made as a pattern arising from the incentives and practices of academic publishing, peer review, and journal editorial selection.
Names and aliases
- publication-biasen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrmwufxy01pxd1nllvxs1o1sINSTANCE_OF →
publication-bias IS a specific kind of cognitive-bias. It is the tendency to publish or prefer results that are statistically significant or confirm hypotheses — a well-documented bias in scientific practice.
- cmrusmp9e02inr6717rcrp0saDEPENDS_ON →
publication-bias depends on peer-review to operate now. The removal test: remove the peer-review system (anonymous expert evaluation before publication) and publication-bias ceases to function as a documented phenomenon — the bias toward significant/confirmatory results operates through the peer-review selection mechanism. Without peer-review, preferential publication becomes a different phenomenon without the institutional gatekeeping that creates the bias.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 22, 2026, 6:58 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 5a4b83dcb1b30237198dd1fec9558045d7c50e104034ce9a5f6bacecbc6b9134