NCEAS Project 12120

Occurrence of publication bias in ecology

• Budden, Amber

Abstract
Metrics associated with publications such as citation rates and impact factors are widely used in the evaluation of academics, departments and institutions. However, factors other than the intrinsic quality of a manuscript can affect its publication and dissemination. Publication bias can be perceived as the extent to which the relative perceived merit of work predicts the relative actual merit of the work and such biases can affect both the publications available to the community, funding allocation, and potentially the career trajectories of researchers. General biases previously detected include the file drawer problem, over-interpretation of data, dissemination bias, institutional or individual status bias, and gender bias. However, the degree or prevalence of these factors has not been extensively explored within the discipline of ecology. Using survey data from multiple sources, online databases and bibliometric methods I aim to evaluate the utility of current metrics, explore the incidence of biases associated with publication and dissemination of material and determine the potential impact of publication bias with respect to the composition of the working and publishing ecological community. I also intend to develop and advocate for best practices to be used by journals, editors, reviewers and authors. For example, preliminary research has demonstrated that the process of double-blind review may serve to reduce non-conscious bias against female authors. This review method is not widely practiced in ecology and I am currently examining community response to double-blind review and evaluating both the benefits and challenges associated with implementing double-blind review practices.

• Overview
• Ecology Core Program
• Conservation & Resource Management Program
• Ecoinformatics Program
• Call for Proposals
• NCEAS Public Data Repository
• NCEAS Data Policy