title: PsychDisclosure.org : Grassroots Support for Reforming Reporting Standards in Psychology.
abstract: There is currently an unprecedented level of doubt regarding the reliability of research findings in psychology. Many recommendations have been made to improve the current situation. In this article, we report results from PsychDisclosure.org, a novel open-science initiative that provides a platform for authors of recently published articles to disclose four methodological design specification details that are not required to be disclosed under current reporting standards but that are critical for accurate interpretation and evaluation of reported findings. Grassroots sentiment-as manifested in the positive and appreciative response to our initiative-indicates that psychologists want to see changes made at the systemic level regarding disclosure of such methodological details. Almost 50% of contacted researchers disclosed the requested design specifications for the four methodological categories (excluded subjects, nonreported conditions and measures, and sample size determination). Disclosed information provided by participating authors also revealed several instances of questionable editorial practices, which need to be thoroughly examined and redressed. On the basis of these results, we argue that the time is now for mandatory methods disclosure statements for all psychology journals, which would be an important step forward in improving the reliability of findings in psychology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario elebel@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Etienne P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: LeBel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam.
authors.forename: Denny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Borsboom
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Kent.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giner-Sorolla
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen.
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hasselman
authors.affiliation: ICF International, Fairfax, Virginia.
authors.forename: Kurt R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Florida.
authors.forename: Kate A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Ratliff
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Florida.
authors.forename: Colin Tucker
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Smith
keywords: disclosure; methodological design specifications; methodology; reporting standards