Reporting results
Responsibilities within the publication process
In order for research to be robust and trustworthy, it is key that correct scientific behavior is not only implemented during the research phase, but also when reporting the results to the scientific community and society in general. Overall, transparency is key. Although research starts with an idea that can culminate into a paper, it is important to note that one should not only look at the scientists performing the work to make sure that everything is correct and that the work is subsequently used in a correct way. In fact, there are other actors in this ecosystem, such as the journals, publishers and other methods that give a platform to the research. In addition, it is also crucial that both the scientific community and society in general are sufficiently critical when embracing results. As such, responsible conduct of research is a shared responsibility.
Who is involved?
(Co-) Author
The above of course does not reduce the responsibility of authors as they are the ones responsible for making sure the reporting is accurate, timely and transparent. Good academic practices will encompass correct behaviour when granting authorship, how to properly cite previous work, how to choose a proper platform to report your work and how to deal with negative results.
The most common way to disseminate research findings is still to publish the work in a peer reviewed scientific journal. Journals exist in many forms, sometimes with a broad spectrum of topics, while others are tailored to specific disciplines or topics. Regardless of their focus, journals have the important task of performing a quality check of the research to make sure that low quality research is not published and that research findings are only communicated after they have been verified by peers. This process is called peer review. Journals have to develop internal quality criteria and organise a review process that is adequate for the task. For this review process, journals rely on reviewers to be critical and to identify where a study falls short.
It is important to note that the responsibility of the author(s) and the journal/publisher, does not end once the work has been published. In fact, both authors and journals/publishers have to take responsibility whenever post-publication issues arise, if necessary by correcting or even retracting the work in a transparent way. The Committee on Publication Ethics provides a number of core practices together with a variety of useful flowcharts that can assist readers of the work and journal editors with determining a strategy in case they encounter questionable research practices
Reader(s)
Finally, it is of utmost importance to acknowledge the role of the readers of the work. Those who read publications will determine the importance of the findings, for example by citing the work. It is therefore important that this group is critical of the work and does not misuse it for its own benefit. Responsible readers look further than the title and abstract of the work, and dive into the paper to fully grasp the content. Reading is to understand whether the conclusions of the work are justified, and how they might be applied.
Gender-sensitive reporting of research
Sex and Gender Equity in Research Guidelines (SAGER) encourage a more systematic approach to the reporting of sex and gender in research across disciplines. They apply to all research with humans, animals or any material originating from humans and animals (e.g. organs, cells, tissues), as well as other disciplines whose results will be applied to humans such as , e.g. engineering.
General principles:
- Authors should use the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ carefully in order to avoid confusing both terms
- Where the subjects of research comprise organisms capable of differentiation by sex, the research should be designed and conducted in a way that can reveal sex-related differences in the results, even if these were not initially expected.
- Where subjects can also be differentiated by gender (shaped by social and cultural circumstances), the research should be conducted similarly at this additional level of distinction.
Recommendations per section of the article:
- Title and abstract: if only one sex is included in the study, or if the results of the study are to be applied to only one sex or gender, the title and the abstract should specify the sex of animals or any cells, tissues and other material derived from these and the sex and gender of human participants.
- Introduction: authors should report, where relevant, whether sex and/or gender differences may be expected.
- Methods: authors should report how sex and gender were taken into account in the design of the study, whether they ensured adequate representation of males and females, and justify the reasons for any exclusion of males or females.
- Results: where appropriate, data should be routinely presented disaggregated by sex and gender. Sex- and gender-based analyses should be reported regardless of positive or negative outcome. In clinical trials, data on withdrawals and dropouts should also be reported disaggregated by sex.
- Discussion: The potential implications of sex and gender on the study results and analysis should be discussed. If a sex and gender analysis was not conducted, the rationale should be given. Authors should further discuss the implications of the lack of such analysis on the interpretation of the results.