Quarterly Journal of Political Science > Vol 3 > Issue 3

Do Statistical Reporting Standards Affect What Is Published? Publication Bias in Two Leading Political Science Journals

Alan Gerber, ISPS, Yale University, USA, alan.gerber@yale.edu , Neil Malhotra, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, USA, neilm@stanford.edu
 
Suggested Citation
Alan Gerber and Neil Malhotra (2008), "Do Statistical Reporting Standards Affect What Is Published? Publication Bias in Two Leading Political Science Journals", Quarterly Journal of Political Science: Vol. 3: No. 3, pp 313-326. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/100.00008024

Publication Date: 24 Oct 2008
© 2008 A. Gerber and N. Malhotra
 
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In this article:
Method and Data 
Results 
Discussion 
Appendix: Procedures for Collecting Studies from the APSR and the AJPS 
References 

Abstract

We examine the APSR and the AJPS for the presence of publication bias due to reliance on the 0.05 significance level. Our analysis employs a broad interpretation of publication bias, which we define as the outcome that occurs when, for whatever reason, publication practices lead to bias in the published parameter estimates. We examine the effect of the 0.05 significance level on the pattern of published findings using a "caliper" test, a novel method for comparing studies with heterogeneous effects, and find that we can reject the hypothesis of no publication bias at the 1 in 32 billion level. Our findings therefore raise the possibility that the results reported in the leading political science journals may be misleading due to publication bias. We also discuss some of the reasons for publication bias and propose reforms to reduce its impact on research.

DOI:10.1561/100.00008024