The invisible science: why researchers do not publish their negative results?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1981-8920.2020v25n4p98Keywords:
Negative result, Scientific journal, Scientific communication, Invisible scienceAbstract
Introduction: The results of scientific research considered negative - unconfirmed hypotheses, unexpected data, inconclusive experiments and more - are always present in the flows of scientific knowledge construction, constituting an essential component for the more comprehensive and integral vision of the multiple faces of the laboratory routine. Furthermore, it is these studies that refute current ideas and consolidated hypotheses that advance science. However, negative studies do not find a high-impact formal publication medium and are not fully valued in the scientific environment and by its institutions. There are many barriers to not publishing and sharing these results.Objective: Trying to understand this phenomenon, the present study, through the observation of the scarce literature in the area, analyzes the main causes of the invisibility of negative studies.
Methodology: Based on exploratory and qualitative research, the search and analysis of the scarce literature on the subject is adopted as a methodological resource, investigating and systematizing the main causes of the invisibility of negative studies.
Results: As a result, the following barriers are identified and systematized: contextual, cognitive, professional, organizational and editorial.
Conclusion: It is concluded that although there is a movement around the creation of journals and other platforms dedicated to negative results, these information assets still need to be valued and integrated to the scientific communication flows, providing a greater visibility to non-confirmatory studies.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
ANDERSON, G. No result is worthless: the value of negative results in science. On Medicine Blog, New York, 10 Oct 2012. Disponível em http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/on-medicine/2012/10/10/no-result-is-worthless-the-value-of-negative-results-in-science/. Acesso em: 10 dez. 2019.
ANDERSON, G.; OLSEN, B. R.; SPROTT, H. Opinion: Publish negative results. The Scientists, [S.I.], 2013. Disponível em: https://www.the-scientist.com/opinion/opinion-publish-negative-results-39928. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2020.
BAKER, M. Is there a reproducibility crisis? Nature, [S.I.], v. 533, p. 452-454, 26 May 2016. Disponível em: https://www.nature.com/news/polopoly_fs/1.19970!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/533452a.pdf. Acesso em: 10 dez. 2019.
DICKERSIN, K.; CHAN, S.; CHALMERSX, T. C.; SACKS, H. S.; SMITH JR, H. Publication bias and clinical trials. Controlled Clinical Trials, [S.I.], v. 8, n. 4, p. 343 – 353, 1987. Disponível em: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0197245687901553. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
EINSTEIN, A.; INFIELD, L. Lévolution des idées en physique. Paris: Flammarion, 1936.
FANELLI, D. Do Pressures to Publish Increase Scientists' Bias? An Empirical Support from US States Data. PLoS ONE, [S.l.], v. 5, n. 4, e10271, 2010. Disponível em: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0010271. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
FANELLI, D. Negatiive results are disappearing from most disciplines and countries. Scientometrics, [S.I.], v. 90, n. 3, p. 891-904, 2012. Disponível em: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-011-0494-7. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
GUIMARÃES, R. A. B.; SUCCI, G. M. ; MONTALLI, V. A. M.; NIEDERAUER, A. J. S.; SUCCI, R. C. M. Resultados negativos na pesquisa científica: aspectos éticos. Revista Bioética, Brasília, v. 26, n. 2, 2018. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1983-80422018000200245&script=sci_arttext. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
HENDRIX, S. Should I publish negative results or does this ruin my career in science? 2016. Disponível em: https://smartsciencecareer.com/negative-results/. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
KNIGHT, J. Negative results: Null and void. Nature, [S.I.], n. 422, 2003. Disponível em: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10812294_Negative_results_Null_and_void. Acesso em: 7 dez. 2019.
KUHN, T. The structure of scientific Revolution. 2. ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1970. Disponível em: https://folk.ntnu.no/krill/bioko-references/Kuhn%201962.pdf. Acesso em: 6 dez. 2019.
LATOUR, B. O objetivo da ciência não é produzir verdades indiscutíveis, mas discutíveis. Jornal Correio do Povo, Porto Alegre, 11 mar. 2017. Disponível em: https://www.correiodopovo.com.br/blogs/di%C3%A1logos/bruno-latour-o-objetivo-da-ci%C3%AAncia-n%C3%A3o-%C3%A9-produzir-verdade-indiscut%C3%ADveis-mas-discut%C3%ADveis-1.306155. Acesso em: 6 dez. 2019.
MATOSIN, N.; FRANK, E.; ENGEL, M.; LUM, J. S.; NEWELL. Negativity towards negative results: a discussion of the disconnect between scientific worth and scientific culture. Disease Models & Mechanisms, [S.I.], v. 7, p. 171-173, 2014. Disponível em: https://dmm.biologists.org/content/dmm/7/2/171.full.pdf. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
MOSLEY, M.; LYNCH, J. Uma história da ciência. [S.l.]: Zahar, 2011.
MUDRAK, B. Negative results: the dark matter of research. 2019. https://www.aje.com/arc/negative-results-dark-matter-research/. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
ORANSKY, I.; MARCUS, A. Keep negativity out of politics. We need more of it in journals. STAT News, [S.I.], Oct. 14, 2016. Disponível em: https://www.statnews.com/2016/10/14/journals-negative-findings/. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
PFEFFER, C.; OLSEN, B. R. Editorial. Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine, [S.l.], v. 1, 2002. Disponível em: https://jnrbm.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1477-5751-1-2. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2020.
POPPER, K. Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. New York, London: Basic Books Publishers, 1962. Disponível em: http://www.rosenfels.org/Popper.pdf. Acesso em: 10 dez. 2019.
RECHERCHE ANIMALE. With Negative Results: negative is positive! 2018. Disponível em: https://www.recherche-animale.org/en/negative-results-negative-positive. Acesso em 27 dez. 2019.
REWARDING negative results keeps science on track. Nature, [S.I.], v. 551, n. 7681, p. 414, 2017. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-017-07325-2.
SAYÃO, L. F., SALES, L. F. O fim da teoria: o embate entre a ciência orientada por dados e a ciência orientada por hipoteses. LIINC em Revista, Rio de Janeiro, v. 15, n. 1, 2019. Disponível em: http://revista.ibict.br/liinc/article/view/4688/4135. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2019.
TIMBIE, K. The stigma of negative data and how preprint servers can help. 2019. Disponível em: https://www.fusfoundation.org/the-foundation/news-media/blog/the-stigma-of-negative-data-and-how-preprint-servers-can-help. Acesso em: 20 jan. 2020.
VAN HILTEN, L. G. Why it´s time to publish research failures. Elservier, [S.I.], 2015. Disponível em: https://www.elsevier.com/connect/scientists-we-want-your-negative-results-too. Acesso em: 12 dez. 2019.
ANDERSON, G.; OLSEN, B. R.; SPROTT, H. Opinion: Publish negative results. The Scientists, [S.I.], 2013. Disponível em: https://www.the-scientist.com/opinion/opinion-publish-negative-results-39928. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2020.
BAKER, M. Is there a reproducibility crisis? Nature, [S.I.], v. 533, p. 452-454, 26 May 2016. Disponível em: https://www.nature.com/news/polopoly_fs/1.19970!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/533452a.pdf. Acesso em: 10 dez. 2019.
DICKERSIN, K.; CHAN, S.; CHALMERSX, T. C.; SACKS, H. S.; SMITH JR, H. Publication bias and clinical trials. Controlled Clinical Trials, [S.I.], v. 8, n. 4, p. 343 – 353, 1987. Disponível em: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0197245687901553. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
EINSTEIN, A.; INFIELD, L. Lévolution des idées en physique. Paris: Flammarion, 1936.
FANELLI, D. Do Pressures to Publish Increase Scientists' Bias? An Empirical Support from US States Data. PLoS ONE, [S.l.], v. 5, n. 4, e10271, 2010. Disponível em: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0010271. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
FANELLI, D. Negatiive results are disappearing from most disciplines and countries. Scientometrics, [S.I.], v. 90, n. 3, p. 891-904, 2012. Disponível em: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-011-0494-7. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
GUIMARÃES, R. A. B.; SUCCI, G. M. ; MONTALLI, V. A. M.; NIEDERAUER, A. J. S.; SUCCI, R. C. M. Resultados negativos na pesquisa científica: aspectos éticos. Revista Bioética, Brasília, v. 26, n. 2, 2018. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1983-80422018000200245&script=sci_arttext. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
HENDRIX, S. Should I publish negative results or does this ruin my career in science? 2016. Disponível em: https://smartsciencecareer.com/negative-results/. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
KNIGHT, J. Negative results: Null and void. Nature, [S.I.], n. 422, 2003. Disponível em: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10812294_Negative_results_Null_and_void. Acesso em: 7 dez. 2019.
KUHN, T. The structure of scientific Revolution. 2. ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1970. Disponível em: https://folk.ntnu.no/krill/bioko-references/Kuhn%201962.pdf. Acesso em: 6 dez. 2019.
LATOUR, B. O objetivo da ciência não é produzir verdades indiscutíveis, mas discutíveis. Jornal Correio do Povo, Porto Alegre, 11 mar. 2017. Disponível em: https://www.correiodopovo.com.br/blogs/di%C3%A1logos/bruno-latour-o-objetivo-da-ci%C3%AAncia-n%C3%A3o-%C3%A9-produzir-verdade-indiscut%C3%ADveis-mas-discut%C3%ADveis-1.306155. Acesso em: 6 dez. 2019.
MATOSIN, N.; FRANK, E.; ENGEL, M.; LUM, J. S.; NEWELL. Negativity towards negative results: a discussion of the disconnect between scientific worth and scientific culture. Disease Models & Mechanisms, [S.I.], v. 7, p. 171-173, 2014. Disponível em: https://dmm.biologists.org/content/dmm/7/2/171.full.pdf. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
MOSLEY, M.; LYNCH, J. Uma história da ciência. [S.l.]: Zahar, 2011.
MUDRAK, B. Negative results: the dark matter of research. 2019. https://www.aje.com/arc/negative-results-dark-matter-research/. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
ORANSKY, I.; MARCUS, A. Keep negativity out of politics. We need more of it in journals. STAT News, [S.I.], Oct. 14, 2016. Disponível em: https://www.statnews.com/2016/10/14/journals-negative-findings/. Acesso em: 6 ago. 2019.
PFEFFER, C.; OLSEN, B. R. Editorial. Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine, [S.l.], v. 1, 2002. Disponível em: https://jnrbm.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1477-5751-1-2. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2020.
POPPER, K. Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. New York, London: Basic Books Publishers, 1962. Disponível em: http://www.rosenfels.org/Popper.pdf. Acesso em: 10 dez. 2019.
RECHERCHE ANIMALE. With Negative Results: negative is positive! 2018. Disponível em: https://www.recherche-animale.org/en/negative-results-negative-positive. Acesso em 27 dez. 2019.
REWARDING negative results keeps science on track. Nature, [S.I.], v. 551, n. 7681, p. 414, 2017. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-017-07325-2.
SAYÃO, L. F., SALES, L. F. O fim da teoria: o embate entre a ciência orientada por dados e a ciência orientada por hipoteses. LIINC em Revista, Rio de Janeiro, v. 15, n. 1, 2019. Disponível em: http://revista.ibict.br/liinc/article/view/4688/4135. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2019.
TIMBIE, K. The stigma of negative data and how preprint servers can help. 2019. Disponível em: https://www.fusfoundation.org/the-foundation/news-media/blog/the-stigma-of-negative-data-and-how-preprint-servers-can-help. Acesso em: 20 jan. 2020.
VAN HILTEN, L. G. Why it´s time to publish research failures. Elservier, [S.I.], 2015. Disponível em: https://www.elsevier.com/connect/scientists-we-want-your-negative-results-too. Acesso em: 12 dez. 2019.
Downloads
Published
2020-12-26
How to Cite
Sayão, L. F., & Sales, L. F. (2020). The invisible science: why researchers do not publish their negative results?. Informação & Informação, 25(4), 98–116. https://doi.org/10.5433/1981-8920.2020v25n4p98
Issue
Section
Artigos
License
A revista se reserva o direito de efetuar, nos originais, alterações de ordem normativa, ortográfica e gramatical, com vistas a manter o padrão culto da língua e a credibilidade do veículo. Respeitará, no entanto, o estilo de escrever dos autores. Alterações, correções ou sugestões de ordem conceitual serão encaminhadas aos autores, quando necessário.
O conteúdo dos textos e a citação e uso de imagens submetidas são de inteira responsabilidade dos autores.
Em todas as citações posteriores, deverá ser consignada a fonte original de publicação, no caso a Informação & Informação.
