From Rex Newsome
Charles Nightingale proposes a worldwide register of studies so negative results can be fully taken into account (8 March, p 20). I am not sure this would help.
Especially in my old field of experimental psychology, as soon as Bloobs and Carfoops report an interesting result, hundreds of young postgraduates searching for a decent and interesting thesis topic will launch studies on the supposed effect. If it is statistically elusive, negative results will probably be put down to poor experimental technique – and consigned to the waste-paper basket. The one or two that appear to confirm it will be registered and published with the respectable name of the supervisor as co-author.
Thus the “Bloobs and Carfoops effect” enters the annals of science, while those who have not found it are likely to remain very silent.
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
