Publication bias, time-lag bias, and place-of-publication bias in social intervention research: An exploratory study of 527 Swedish articles published between 1990–2019

Abstract

Publication and related biases constitute serious threats to the validity of research synthesis. If research syntheses are based on a biased selection of the available research, there is an increased risk of producing misleading results. The purpose fo this study is to explore the extent of positive outcome bias, time-lag bias, and place-of-publication bias in published research on the effects of psychological, social, and behavioral interventions. The results are based on 527 Swedish outcome trials published in peer-reviewed journals between 1990 and 2019. We found no difference in the number of studies reporting significant compared to non-significant findings or in the number of studies reporting strong effect sizes in the published literature. We found no evidence of time-lag bias or place-of-publication bias in our results. The average reported effect size remained constant over time as did the proportion of studies reporting significant effects.