4,888 research outputs found
Peer Review of Reviewers: The Author's Perspective
The aim of this study was to investigate the opinion of authors on the overall quality and effectiveness of reviewers' contributions to reviewed papers. We employed an on-line survey of thirteen journals which publish articles in the field of life, social or technological sciences. Responses received from 193 authors were analysed using a mixed-effects model in order to determine factors deemed the most important in the authors' evaluation of the reviewers. Qualitative content analysis of the responses to open questions was performed as well. The mixed-effects model revealed that the authors' assessment of the competence of referees strongly depended on the final editorial decision and that the speed of the review process was influential as well. In Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) analysis on seven questions detailing authors' opinions, perception of review speed remained a significant predictor of the assessment. In addition, both the perceived competence and helpfulness of the reviewers significantly and positively affected the authors' evaluation. New models were used to re-check the value of these two factors and it was confirmed that the assessment of the competence of reviewers strongly depended on the final editorial decision
Registered Reports in Software Engineering
Registered reports are scientific publications which begin the publication
process by first having the detailed research protocol, including key research
questions, reviewed and approved by peers. Subsequent analysis and results are
published with minimal additional review, even if there was no clear support
for the underlying hypothesis, as long as the approved protocol is followed.
Registered reports can prevent several questionable research practices and give
early feedback on research designs. In software engineering research,
registered reports were first introduced in the International Conference on
Mining Software Repositories (MSR) in 2020. They are now established in three
conferences and two pre-eminent journals, including Empirical Software
Engineering. We explain the motivation for registered reports, outline the way
they have been implemented in software engineering, and outline some ongoing
challenges for addressing high quality software engineering research.Comment: in press as EMSE J. commen
Methodological criteria for the assessment of moderators in systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials : a consensus study
Background: Current methodological guidelines provide advice about the assessment of sub-group analysis within
RCTs, but do not specify explicit criteria for assessment. Our objective was to provide researchers with a set of
criteria that will facilitate the grading of evidence for moderators, in systematic reviews.
Method: We developed a set of criteria from methodological manuscripts (n = 18) using snowballing technique,
and electronic database searches. Criteria were reviewed by an international Delphi panel (n = 21), comprising
authors who have published methodological papers in this area, and researchers who have been active in the
study of sub-group analysis in RCTs. We used the Research ANd Development/University of California Los Angeles
appropriateness method to assess consensus on the quantitative data. Free responses were coded for consensus
and disagreement. In a subsequent round additional criteria were extracted from the Cochrane Reviewers’
Handbook, and the process was repeated.
Results: The recommendations are that meta-analysts report both confirmatory and exploratory findings for subgroups
analysis. Confirmatory findings must only come from studies in which a specific theory/evidence based apriori
statement is made. Exploratory findings may be used to inform future/subsequent trials. However, for
inclusion in the meta-analysis of moderators, the following additional criteria should be applied to each study:
Baseline factors should be measured prior to randomisation, measurement of baseline factors should be of
adequate reliability and validity, and a specific test of the interaction between baseline factors and interventions
must be presented.
Conclusions: There is consensus from a group of 21 international experts that methodological criteria to assess
moderators within systematic reviews of RCTs is both timely and necessary. The consensus from the experts
resulted in five criteria divided into two groups when synthesising evidence: confirmatory findings to support
hypotheses about moderators and exploratory findings to inform future research. These recommendations are
discussed in reference to previous recommendations for evaluating and reporting moderator studies
MINORITY STRESS: DOES SEXUAL ORIENTATION REALLY MATTER ?
The objective of this study was to compare the degree of work stress experienced by heterosexual and non-heterosexual men. For this, a survey was conducted with 225 white male executive employees at different companies. Sexual orientation was self-declared which made possible to isolate two groups of respondents: 104 of whom defined their sexual orientation as heterosexual, and 121 as non-heterosexual. A work stress scale was applied. Results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the work stress experienced by the two groups. The analysis developed indicated that for groups that are like the sample used, being heterosexual or non-heterosexual is not enough to determine the degree of stress that one can suffer.DOI: 10.21714/2178-8030gep.v.21.6194El objetivo de este estudio fue comparar el grado de estrés laboral experimentado por hombres heterosexuales y no heterosexuales. Para esto, se realizó una encuesta con 225 empleados ejecutivos blancos de diferentes compañÃas. La orientación sexual fue auto declarada, lo que permitió aislar a dos grupos de encuestados: 104 de ellos definieron su orientación como heterosexual y 121 como no heterosexual. Se aplicó una escala de estrés laboral. Los resultados no indicaron diferencias estadÃsticamente significativas entre el estrés laboral experimentado por ambos grupos. El análisis desarrollado indicó que, para grupos similares a la muestra utilizada, ser heterosexual o no heterosexual no es suficiente para determinar el grado de estrés que uno puede sufrir.O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar o grau de estresse no trabalho vivenciado por homens heterossexuais e não heterossexuais. Para isso foi realizada pesquisa com 225 funcionários executivos, homens, brancos, de diferentes empresas. A orientação sexual foi autodeclarada, o que tornou possÃvel isolar dois grupos de respondentes: 104 deles definiram sua orientação como heterossexual e 121 como não heterossexual.  Uma escala de estresse no trabalho foi aplicada. Os resultados indicaram não haver diferença estatisticamente significante entre o estresse no trabalho vivenciado pelos dois grupos. A análise desenvolvida indicou que para grupos similares ao da amostra usada, ser heterossexual ou não heterossexual não é suficiente para determinar o grau de stress que alguém pode sofrer.DOI: 10.21714/2178-8030gep.v.21.619
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Open science and modified funding lotteries can impede the natural selection of bad science.
Assessing scientists using exploitable metrics can lead to the degradation of research methods even without any strategic behaviour on the part of individuals, via 'the natural selection of bad science.' Institutional incentives to maximize metrics like publication quantity and impact drive this dynamic. Removing these incentives is necessary, but institutional change is slow. However, recent developments suggest possible solutions with more rapid onsets. These include what we call open science improvements, which can reduce publication bias and improve the efficacy of peer review. In addition, there have been increasing calls for funders to move away from prestige- or innovation-based approaches in favour of lotteries. We investigated whether such changes are likely to improve the reproducibility of science even in the presence of persistent incentives for publication quantity through computational modelling. We found that modified lotteries, which allocate funding randomly among proposals that pass a threshold for methodological rigour, effectively reduce the rate of false discoveries, particularly when paired with open science improvements that increase the publication of negative results and improve the quality of peer review. In the absence of funding that targets rigour, open science improvements can still reduce false discoveries in the published literature but are less likely to improve the overall culture of research practices that underlie those publications
Key issues on partial least squares (PLS) in operations management research: A guide to submissions
Purpose: This work aims to systematise the use of PLS as an analysis tool via a usage guide or
recommendation for researchers to help them eliminate errors when using this tool.
Design/methodology/approach: A recent literature review about PLS and discussion with experts in
the methodology.
Findings: This article considers the current situation of PLS after intense academic debate in recent years,
and summarises recommendations to properly conduct and report a research work that uses this
methodology in its analyses. We particularly focus on how to: choose the construct type; choose the
estimation technique (PLS or CB-SEM); evaluate and report the measurement model; evaluate and report
the structural model; analyse statistical power.
Research limitations: It was impossible to cover some relevant aspects in considerable detail herein:
presenting a guided example that respects all the report recommendations presented herein to act as a
practical guide for authors; does the specification or evaluation of the measurement model differ when it
deals with first-order or second-order constructs?; how are the outcomes of the constructs interpreted
with the indicators being measured with nominal measurement levels?; is the Confirmatory Composite
Analysis approach compatible with recent proposals about the Confirmatory Tetrad Analysis (CTA)?
These themes will the object of later publications.
Originality/value: We provide a check list of the information elements that must contain any article
using PLS. Our intention is for the article to act as a guide for the researchers and possible authors who
send works to the JIEM (Journal of Industrial and Engineering Management). This guide could be used by
both editors and reviewers of JIEM, or other journals in this area, to evaluate and reduce the risk of bias
(Losilla, Oliveras, Marin-Garcia & Vives, 2018) in works using PLS as an analysis procedure
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Accuracy of medical billing data against the electronic health record in the measurement of colorectal cancer screening rates.
ObjectiveMedical billing data are an attractive source of secondary analysis because of their ease of use and potential to answer population-health questions with statistical power. Although these datasets have known susceptibilities to biases, the degree to which they can distort the assessment of quality measures such as colorectal cancer screening rates are not widely appreciated, nor are their causes and possible solutions.MethodsUsing a billing code database derived from our institution's electronic health records, we estimated the colorectal cancer screening rate of average-risk patients aged 50-74 years seen in primary care or gastroenterology clinic in 2016-2017. 200 records (150 unscreened, 50 screened) were sampled to quantify the accuracy against manual review.ResultsOut of 4611 patients, an analysis of billing data suggested a 61% screening rate, an estimate that matches the estimate by the Centers for Disease Control. Manual review revealed a positive predictive value of 96% (86%-100%), negative predictive value of 21% (15%-29%) and a corrected screening rate of 85% (81%-90%). Most false negatives occurred due to examinations performed outside the scope of the database-both within and outside of our institution-but 21% of false negatives fell within the database's scope. False positives occurred due to incomplete examinations and inadequate bowel preparation. Reasons for screening failure include ordered but incomplete examinations (48%), lack of or incorrect documentation by primary care (29%) including incorrect screening intervals (13%) and patients declining screening (13%).ConclusionsBilling databases are prone to substantial bias that may go undetected even in the presence of confirmatory external estimates. Caution is recommended when performing population-level inference from these data. We propose several solutions to improve the use of these data for the assessment of healthcare quality
Degrees of freedom in planning, running, analyzing, and reporting psychological studies:A checklist to avoid p-hacking
The designing, collecting, analyzing, and reporting of psychological studies entail many choices that are often arbitrary. The opportunistic use of these so-called researcher degrees of freedom aimed at obtaining statistically significant results is problematic because it enhances the chances of false positive results and may inflate effect size estimates. In this review article, we present an extensive list of 34 degrees of freedom that researchers have in formulating hypotheses, and in designing, running, analyzing, and reporting of psychological research. The list can be used in research methods education, and as a checklist to assess the quality of preregistrations and to determine the potential for bias due to (arbitrary) choices in unregistered studies
Is Law a Discipline? Forays into Academic Culture
This Article explores academic culture. It addresses the reluctance in academic circles to accord law the full stature of a discipline. It forms doubts that have been raised into a series of four criticisms. Each attacks an academic feature of law, inviting the question: Is law different from the rest of the university in a way damaging its stature as an academic discipline? The Article concludes that, upon careful examination of each criticism, none establishes a difference between law and other disciplines capable of damaging law’s stature
Is Law a Discipline? Forays into Academic Culture
This Article explores academic culture. It addresses the reluctance in academic circles to accord law the full stature of a discipline. It forms doubts that have been raised into a series of four criticisms. Each attacks an academic feature of law, inviting the question: Is law different from the rest of the university in a way damaging its stature as an academic discipline? The Article concludes that, upon careful examination of each criticism, none establishes a difference between law and other disciplines capable of damaging law’s stature
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