P-hacking in meta-analyses: A formalization and new meta-analytic methods.

ABSTRACT: As traditionally conceived, publication bias arises from selection operating on a collection of individually unbiased estimates. A canonical form of such selection across studies (SAS) is the preferential publication of affirmative studies (i.e., those with significant, positive estimates) versus nonaffirmative studies (i.e., those with nonsignificant or negative estimates). However, meta-analyses can also be compromised by selection within studies (SWS), in which investigators "p-hack" results within their study to obtain an affirmative estimate. Published estimates can then be biased even conditional on affirmative status, which comprises the performance of existing methods that only consider SAS. We propose two new analysis methods that accommodate joint SAS and SWS; both analyze only t

SUBMITTER: Mathur MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11042997 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature