Make sure the statistical analyses in your articles are above suspicion
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Did you know that, often, the toughest papers for journal editors to process are those that contain statistical analyses? This is because it’s generally very hard for journals to find reviewers who are either willing to take such papers on or who have the necessary skills to adequately assess manuscripts containing data-based statistical analyses. This is an issue in academic publishing as peer-review often completely lacks adequate evaluation of the statistical basis of results and accuracy of numerical analyses. Peer reviewers often simply do not check these sections of articles and editors let them through regardless.
Why is this such an issue? Well, people tend to believe the results of research if some kind of numerical analysis tells them that the ‘results are significant’.
Although statistical analyses are extremely common to all kinds of academic (especially scientific) research, large numbers of papers nevertheless are published year-on-year that actually contain incorrect or inaccurate numerical analyses (www.statisticsdonewrong.com).
This has led to a rise in the number of ‘concerned citizen’ scientists who actually spend their free time checking the accuracy of data analyses in published research. Here’s just one recent news story, for example : English anaesthetist John Carlisle spends his early morning spare time reanalysing published medical articles and has (so far) caught problems in hundreds of research papers. His voluntary work has spurred a leading medical journal to change its practices.
How can you ensure that your academic research work is statistically correct?
One quick and easy way to ensure that the analyses in your articles are clean and will pass peer review is to use a statistical review service. The Charlesworth Statistical Review service is suitable for medical and life science papers. This service automatically checks your data and numerical analyses and provides outputs that could be used by reviewers, editors, and authors to ensure basic mistakes do not slip into published work. Perhaps you used an incorrect statistical test, or reported an outcome in the wrong format? Perhaps one of your P- or R2 values is slightly incorrect; this service will tell you: any issues can be fixed before formal journal review, and you’ll enhance your chances of publication success. Helping you achieve your publication goals as a researcher is our main aim at Charlesworth Author Services.
Looking for more information about how to accurately and efficiently perform statistical analyses and present your data effectively? Our academic writing and publishing training courses, online materials, and blog articles contain numerous tips and tricks to help you navigate academic writing and publishing, and maximise your potential as a researcher.
You can listen to our free Charlesworth Knowledge webinar on the importance of statistical review here.
Our team also provides a range of expert English language editing services, consultancy, and journal selection services all designed and tried-and-tested to significantly enhance your chances of being successfully published in your preferred journal.
More details can be found here.
Maximise your publication success with Charlesworth Author Services.
