Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40991668›Full record

ArticlePLoS biology2025

Ending publication bias: A values-based approach to surface null and negative results.

Stephen Curry, Eunice Mercado-Lara, Virginia Arechavala-Gomeza, C Glenn Begley, Christophe Bernard, René Bernard, Stefano Bertuzzi, Needhi Bhalla, Dawn Bowers, Samuel Brod and 33 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Nutrient variation shapes survival without altering activity or social interaction networks in a sawfly.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

43 authors.

Stephen CurryDepartment of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-0552-8870
Eunice Mercado-LaraOpen Research Community Accelerator, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Virginia Arechavala-GomezaNucleic Acid Therapeutics for Rare Diseases, Biobizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain.
C Glenn BegleyBegley Biotech Consulting, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Christophe BernardAix Marseille Université, INSERM, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Marseille, France.
René BernardExcellenzcluster NeuroCure, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Stefano BertuzziAmerican Society for Microbiology, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
Needhi BhallaDepartment of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
Dawn BowersDepartment of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Samuel BrodBioMed Central, London, United Kingdom.
Christopher ChambersSchool of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Michael R DoughertyDepartment of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America.
Yensi Flores BuesoCancer Research @UCC, University College Cork, Cork, Republic of Ireland.
Stefânia FornerAlzheimer's Association, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
Alexandra L J FreemanOctopus Publishing CIC, Abingdon, United Kingdom.
Magali HaasCohen Veterans Bioscience, New York, New York, United States of America.
Darla P HendersonFederation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
Kanika KhannaGladstone Institute of Virology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Rebecca LawrenceF1000 Research Ltd, Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom.
Kif Liakath-AliSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.
Christine LiuDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Neil MalhotraGraduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America.
José G MerinoDepartment of Neurology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
Edward MiguelDepartment of Economics and Center for Effective Global Action, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
Rachel MilesUniversity Libraries, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America.
Mary MunsonDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Shinichi NakagawaDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Robert NoblesOffice of Research Administration, Emory University, Atlanta, GeorgiaUnited States of America.
Joy OwangoTraining Centre in Communication, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
Michel Tuan PhamColumbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America.
Gina PoeIntegrative Biology and Physiology Department, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
Alexandra N RamirezNeuroscience Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America.
Sarvenaz SarabipourDepartment of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut, United States of America.
Jill L SilvermanDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MIND Institute, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
Laura N SmithDepartment of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Texas A&M University College of Medicine, Bryan, Texas, United States of America.
P SriramaraoOffice of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America.
Paul W SternbergDivision of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, United States of America.
Geeta K SwamyDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Malú Gámez TanseyMcKnight Brain Institute, Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida Health System, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Gonzalo E TorresDepartment of Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
Erick H TurnerDepartment of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America.
Lauren von KlinggraeffDepartment of Community and Behavioral Health Sciences, Institute of Public and Preventive Health, School of Public Health, Augusta University, Augusta, GeorgiaUnited States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-4417-0701
Frances Weis-GarciaAntibody and Bioresource Core Facility, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, United States of America.

Funding

National Institutes of Health (National Institute of General Medical Sciences R35GM141835
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sharing knowledge is a basic tenet of the scientific community, yet publication bias arising from the reluctance or inability to publish negative or null results remains a long-standing and deep-seated problem, albeit one that varies in severity between disciplines and study types. Recognizing that previous endeavors to address the issue have been fragmentary and largely unsuccessful, this Consensus View proposes concrete and concerted measures that major stakeholders can take to create and incentivize new pathways for publishing negative results. Funders, research institutions, publishers, learned societies, and the research community all have a role in making this an achievable norm that will buttress public trust in science.

Indexed as

Publication BiasHumansInformation DisseminationPublishing

Identifiers

PMID40991668
PMCPMC12459790

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.