P values in display items are ubiquitous and almost invariably significant: A survey of top science journals

PloS One
Ioana Alina Cristea, John P A Ioannidis

Abstract

P values represent a widely used, but pervasively misunderstood and fiercely contested method of scientific inference. Display items, such as figures and tables, often containing the main results, are an important source of P values. We conducted a survey comparing the overall use of P values and the occurrence of significant P values in display items of a sample of articles in the three top multidisciplinary journals (Nature, Science, PNAS) in 2017 and, respectively, in 1997. We also examined the reporting of multiplicity corrections and its potential influence on the proportion of statistically significant P values. Our findings demonstrated substantial and growing reliance on P values in display items, with increases of 2.5 to 14.5 times in 2017 compared to 1997. The overwhelming majority of P values (94%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 92% to 96%) were statistically significant. Methods to adjust for multiplicity were almost non-existent in 1997, but reported in many articles relying on P values in 2017 (Nature 68%, Science 48%, PNAS 38%). In their absence, almost all reported P values were statistically significant (98%, 95% CI 96% to 99%). Conversely, when any multiplicity corrections were described, 88% (95% CI 82% to 93%)...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 5, 2018·Journal of Evidence-based Medicine·Robert L Grant
Jul 16, 2020·Clinical Trials : Journal of the Society for Clinical Trials·Richard A Parker, Christopher J Weir
Mar 5, 2020·Indian Journal of Gastroenterology : Official Journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology·Corbin WaltersMatt Vassar
Jun 7, 2021·European Journal of Epidemiology·Anna HeathPetros Pechlivanoglou

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