Guidelines for Science: Evidence and Checklists

Problem: The scientific method is unrivalled as a basis for generating useful knowledge, yet research papers published in management, economics, and other social sciences fields often ignore scientific principles. What, then, can be done to increase the publication of useful scientific papers? Methods: Evidence on researchers’ compliance with scientific principles was examined. Guidelines aimed at reducing violations were then derived from established definitions of the scientific method. Findings: Violations of the principles of science are encouraged by: (a) funding for advocacy research; (b) regulations that limit what research is permitted, how it must be designed, and what must be reported; (c) political suppression of scientists’ speech; (d) universities’ use of invalid criteria to evaluate research—such as grant money and counting of publications without regard to usefulness; (e) journals’ use of invalid criteria for deciding which papers to publish—such as the use of statistical significance tests. Solutions: We created a checklist of 24 evidence-based operational guidelines to help researchers comply with scientific principles (valid inputs). Based on the definition of science, we then developed a checklist of seven criteria to evaluate whether a research paper provides useful scientific findings (valuable outputs). That checklist can be used by researchers, funders, courts, legislators, regulators, employers, reviewers, and