Undergraduate research involving human subjects should not be granted ethical approval unless it is likely to be of publishable quality

Small-scale research projects involving human subjects have been identified as being effective in developing critical appraisal skills in undergraduate students. In deciding whether to grant ethical approval to such projects, university research ethics committees must weigh up the benefits of the research against the risk of harm or discomfort to the participants. As the learning objectives associated with student research can be met without the need for human subjects, the benefit associated with training new healthcare professionals cannot, in itself, justify such risks. The outputs of research must be shared with the wider scientific community if it is to influence future practice. Our survey of 19 UK universities indicates that undergraduate dissertations associated with the disciplines of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy are not routinely retained in their library catalogues, thus closing a major avenue to the dissemination of their findings. If such research is unlikely to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, presented at a conference, or otherwise made available to other researchers, then the risks of harm, discomfort or inconvenience to participants are unlikely to be offset by societal benefits. Ethics committees should be satisfied that undergraduate research will be funnelled into further research that is likely to inform clinical practice before granting ethical approval.Peer reviewe

Many Labs 5: Testing Pre-Data-Collection Peer Review as an Intervention to Increase Replicability

none172siReplication studies in psychological science sometimes fail to reproduce prior findings. If these studies use methods that are unfaithful to the original study or ineffective in eliciting the phenomenon of interest, then a failure to replicate may be a failure of the protocol rather than a challenge to the original finding. Formal pre-data-collection peer review by experts may address shortcomings and increase replicability rates. We selected 10 replication studies from the Reproducibility Project: Psychology (RP:P; Open Science Collaboration, 2015) for which the original authors had expressed concerns about the replication designs before data collection; only one of these studies had yielded a statistically significant effect (p <.05). Commenters suggested that lack of adherence to expert review and low-powered tests were the reasons that most of these RP:P studies failed to replicate the original effects. We revised the replication protocols and received formal peer review prior to conducting new replication studies. We administered the RP:P and revised protocols in multiple laboratories (median number of laboratories per original study = 6.5, range = 3–9; median total sample = 1,279.5, range = 276–3,512) for high-powered tests of each original finding with both protocols. Overall, following the preregistered analysis plan, we found that the revised protocols produced effect sizes similar to those of the RP:P protocols (Δr =.002 or.014, depending on analytic approach). The median effect size for the revised protocols (r =.05) was similar to that of the RP:P protocols (r =.04) and the original RP:P replications (r =.11), and smaller than that of the original studies (r =.37). Analysis of the cumulative evidence across the original studies and the corresponding three replication attempts provided very precise estimates of the 10 tested effects and indicated that their effect sizes (median r =.07, range =.00–.15) were 78% smaller, on average, than the original effect sizes (median r =.37, range =.19–.50).mixedEbersole C.R.; Mathur M.B.; Baranski E.; Bart-Plange D.-J.; Buttrick N.R.; Chartier C.R.; Corker K.S.; Corley M.; Hartshorne J.K.; IJzerman H.; Lazarevic L.B.; Rabagliati H.; Ropovik I.; Aczel B.; Aeschbach L.F.; Andrighetto L.; Arnal J.D.; Arrow H.; Babincak P.; Bakos B.E.; Banik G.; Baskin E.; Belopavlovic R.; Bernstein M.H.; Bialek M.; Bloxsom N.G.; Bodroza B.; Bonfiglio D.B.V.; Boucher L.; Bruhlmann F.; Brumbaugh C.C.; Casini E.; Chen Y.; Chiorri C.; Chopik W.J.; Christ O.; Ciunci A.M.; Claypool H.M.; Coary S.; Colic M.V.; Collins W.M.; Curran P.G.; Day C.R.; Dering B.; Dreber A.; Edlund J.E.; Falcao F.; Fedor A.; Feinberg L.; Ferguson I.R.; Ford M.; Frank M.C.; Fryberger E.; Garinther A.; Gawryluk K.; Ashbaugh K.; Giacomantonio M.; Giessner S.R.; Grahe J.E.; Guadagno R.E.; Halasa E.; Hancock P.J.B.; Hilliard R.A.; Huffmeier J.; Hughes S.; Idzikowska K.; Inzlicht M.; Jern A.; Jimenez-Leal W.; Johannesson M.; Joy-Gaba J.A.; Kauff M.; Kellier D.J.; Kessinger G.; Kidwell M.C.; Kimbrough A.M.; King J.P.J.; Kolb V.S.; Kolodziej S.; Kovacs M.; Krasuska K.; Kraus S.; Krueger L.E.; Kuchno K.; Lage C.A.; Langford E.V.; Levitan C.A.; de Lima T.J.S.; Lin H.; Lins S.; Loy J.E.; Manfredi D.; Markiewicz L.; Menon M.; Mercier B.; Metzger M.; Meyet V.; Millen A.E.; Miller J.K.; Montealegre A.; Moore D.A.; Muda R.; Nave G.; Nichols A.L.; Novak S.A.; Nunnally C.; Orlic A.; Palinkas A.; Panno A.; Parks K.P.; Pedovic I.; Pekala E.; Penner M.R.; Pessers S.; Petrovic B.; Pfeiffer T.; Pienkosz D.; Preti E.; Puric D.; Ramos T.; Ravid J.; Razza T.S.; Rentzsch K.; Richetin J.; Rife S.C.; Rosa A.D.; Rudy K.H.; Salamon J.; Saunders B.; Sawicki P.; Schmidt K.; Schuepfer K.; Schultze T.; Schulz-Hardt S.; Schutz A.; Shabazian A.N.; Shubella R.L.; Siegel A.; Silva R.; Sioma B.; Skorb L.; de Souza L.E.C.; Steegen S.; Stein L.A.R.; Sternglanz R.W.; Stojilovic D.; Storage D.; Sullivan G.B.; Szaszi B.; Szecsi P.; Szoke O.; Szuts A.; Thomae M.; Tidwell N.D.; Tocco C.; Torka A.-K.; Tuerlinckx F.; Vanpaemel W.; Vaughn L.A.; Vianello M.; Viganola D.; Vlachou M.; Walker R.J.; Weissgerber S.C.; Wichman A.L.; Wiggins B.J.; Wolf D.; Wood M.J.; Zealley D.; Zezelj I.; Zrubka M.; Nosek B.A.Ebersole, C. R.; Mathur, M. B.; Baranski, E.; Bart-Plange, D. -J.; Buttrick, N. R.; Chartier, C. R.; Corker, K. S.; Corley, M.; Hartshorne, J. K.; Ijzerman, H.; Lazarevic, L. B.; Rabagliati, H.; Ropovik, I.; Aczel, B.; Aeschbach, L. F.; Andrighetto, L.; Arnal, J. D.; Arrow, H.; Babincak, P.; Bakos, B. E.; Banik, G.; Baskin, E.; Belopavlovic, R.; Bernstein, M. H.; Bialek, M.; Bloxsom, N. G.; Bodroza, B.; Bonfiglio, D. B. V.; Boucher, L.; Bruhlmann, F.; Brumbaugh, C. C.; Casini, E.; Chen, Y.; Chiorri, C.; Chopik, W. J.; Christ, O.; Ciunci, A. M.; Claypool, H. M.; Coary, S.; Colic, M. V.; Collins, W. M.; Curran, P. G.; Day, C. R.; Dering, B.; Dreber, A.; Edlund, J. E.; Falcao, F.; Fedor, A.; Feinberg, L.; Ferguson, I. R.; Ford, M.; Frank, M. C.; Fryberger, E.; Garinther, A.; Gawryluk, K.; Ashbaugh, K.; Giacomantonio, M.; Giessner, S. R.; Grahe, J. E.; Guadagno, R. E.; Halasa, E.; Hancock, P. J. B.; Hilliard, R. A.; Huffmeier, J.; Hughes, S.; Idzikowska, K.; Inzlicht, M.; Jern, A.; Jimenez-Leal, W.; Johannesson, M.; Joy-Gaba, J. A.; Kauff, M.; Kellier, D. J.; Kessinger, G.; Kidwell, M. C.; Kimbrough, A. M.; King, J. P. J.; Kolb, V. S.; Kolodziej, S.; Kovacs, M.; Krasuska, K.; Kraus, S.; Krueger, L. E.; Kuchno, K.; Lage, C. A.; Langford, E. V.; Levitan, C. A.; de Lima, T. J. S.; Lin, H.; Lins, S.; Loy, J. E.; Manfredi, D.; Markiewicz, L.; Menon, M.; Mercier, B.; Metzger, M.; Meyet, V.; Millen, A. E.; Miller, J. K.; Montealegre, A.; Moore, D. A.; Muda, R.; Nave, G.; Nichols, A. L.; Novak, S. A.; Nunnally, C.; Orlic, A.; Palinkas, A.; Panno, A.; Parks, K. P.; Pedovic, I.; Pekala, E.; Penner, M. R.; Pessers, S.; Petrovic, B.; Pfeiffer, T.; Pienkosz, D.; Preti, E.; Puric, D.; Ramos, T.; Ravid, J.; Razza, T. S.; Rentzsch, K.; Richetin, J.; Rife, S. C.; Rosa, A. D.; Rudy, K. H.; Salamon, J.; Saunders, B.; Sawicki, P.; Schmidt, K.; Schuepfer, K.; Schultze, T.; Schulz-Hardt, S.; Schutz, A.; Shabazian, A. N.; Shubella, R. L.; Siegel, A.; Silva, R.; Sioma, B.; Skorb, L.; de Souza, L. E. C.; Steegen, S.; Stein, L. A. R.; Sternglanz, R. W.; Stojilovic, D.; Storage, D.; Sullivan, G. B.; Szaszi, B.; Szecsi, P.; Szoke, O.; Szuts, A.; Thomae, M.; Tidwell, N. D.; Tocco, C.; Torka, A. -K.; Tuerlinckx, F.; Vanpaemel, W.; Vaughn, L. A.; Vianello, M.; Viganola, D.; Vlachou, M.; Walker, R. J.; Weissgerber, S. C.; Wichman, A. L.; Wiggins, B. J.; Wolf, D.; Wood, M. J.; Zealley, D.; Zezelj, I.; Zrubka, M.; Nosek, B. A