“The pursuit of significance has evolved from a mere technical concern to a psychological burden that influences behavior, distorts judgment, and impacts mental well-being.”
A recent study published in European Science Editing sheds light on the increasing psychological strain faced by researchers due to the pressure of obtaining statistically important results in academic publishing. Michał Ordak, an Assistant Professor at the Medical University of Warsaw and an experienced editor and statistical reviewer, reveals how institutional expectations, supervision, and editorial demands contribute to emotional distress among young scholars striving to meet perceived standards of publishability.
According to Ordak, there has been a noticeable increase in concerns about statistical significance among authors during peer review and presubmission dialog between 2015 and 2025. Many authors express fear that using appropriate statistical methods may led to non-significant findings which could reduce their chances of publication. This anxiety persists despite researchers having a general understanding of statistical principles.the pressure is not due to ignorance but rather visible institutional demands and the belief that publication relies heavily on statistically significant results.
This pressure is particularly felt by PhD students and early-career researchers who often rely on statistically significant outcomes for securing publications, funding opportunities, and career advancement. Ordak also notes that some researchers perceive editorial feedback as a threat rather than an opportunity for scientific rigor. This can lead them to justify flawed analytical choices based solely on weather the results are statistically significant.
To address this issue,critical reforms are needed according to Ordak. Editorial teams can play a crucial role in mitigating this anxiety by providing guidance on sound statistical reasoning and reassuring authors that rigorous methods are valued regardless of outcome. he also suggests widespread adoption of standards such as SAMPL (Statistical Analyses and Methods in the Published Literature) guidelines which are currently underused.
The original source for this study is “the psychological burden of statistical significance: editorial reflections from 2015-2025” by Michał Ordak published in European Science Editing 51: e164741. The journal is a diamond open-access publication that focuses on original contributions related to scientific and scholarly editing and publishing.It is the official journal of the European Association of Science Editors and is published on the ARPHA platform.
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This is such an important topic for researchers to address!