Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40699150›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of cell biology2025

Alternative to the statistical mass confusion of testing for "no effect".

Josh L Morgan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of cell biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Josh L MorganDepartment of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Neuroscience, Biology and Biomedical Science, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2657-2416

Funding

Development and function of glomerular microcircuits in the visual thalamusR01EY029313 · NEI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI MORGAN, JOSHUA L · 2020 to 2024
$1.9M
NEI NIH HHS R01 EY029313NIH HHS EY029313Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In cell biology, statistical analysis means testing the hypothesis that there was no effect. This weak form of hypothesis testing neglects effect size, is universally misinterpreted, and is disastrously prone to error when combined with high-throughput cell biology. The solution is for analysis of measurements to start and end with an interpretation of effect size. In this manuscript, I walk through some of the common critiques of significance testing and how they relate to experimental cell biology. I argue that careful consideration of effect size should be returned to its central position in the planning and discussion of cell biological research. To facilitate this shift in focus, I recommend replacing P values with confidence intervals as cell biology's default statistical analysis.

Indexed as

Cell BiologyResearch DesignData Interpretation, StatisticalHumans

Identifiers

PMID40699150
PMCPMC12286597

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.