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Does single-blind review encourage or discourage p-hacking?

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  • Costanza Naguib

Abstract

In 2011, the American Economic Association (AEA) changed its peer review policy for all their journals, shifting from a double-blind process to a single-blind peer-review process. Under this new system, referees became aware of the authors’ identities. In this paper, I explore whether this policy change influenced the prevalence of p-hacking in published papers at The American Economic Review.

Suggested Citation

  • Costanza Naguib, 2025. "Does single-blind review encourage or discourage p-hacking?," Diskussionsschriften dp2504, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    • Handle: RePEc:ube:dpvwib:dp2504
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Abel Brodeur & Nikolai M. Cook & Jonathan S. Hartley & Anthony Heyes, 2024. "Do Preregistration and Preanalysis Plans Reduce p-Hacking and Publication Bias? Evidence from 15,992 Test Statistics and Suggestions for Improvement," Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(3), pages 527-561.
    2. Abel Brodeur & Mathias Lé & Marc Sangnier & Yanos Zylberberg, 2016. "Star Wars: The Empirics Strike Back," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 1-32, January.
    3. Abel Brodeur & Scott Carrell & David Figlio & Lester Lusher, 2023. "Unpacking P-hacking and Publication Bias," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(11), pages 2974-3002, November.
    4. Abel Brodeur & Nikolai Cook & Carina Neisser, 2024. "p-Hacking, Data type and Data-Sharing Policy," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(659), pages 985-1018.
    5. Aboozar Hadavand & Daniel S. Hamermesh & Wesley W. Wilson, 2024. "Publishing Economics: How Slow? Why Slow? Is Slow Productive? How to Fix Slow?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 269-293, March.
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    7. Fredrik Carlsson & Åsa Löfgren & Thomas Sterner, 2012. "Discrimination in Scientific Review: A Natural Field Experiment on Blind versus Non‐Blind Reviews," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(2), pages 500-519, June.
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    12. Abel Brodeur & Nikolai Cook & Anthony Heyes, 2020. "Methods Matter: p-Hacking and Publication Bias in Causal Analysis in Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(11), pages 3634-3660, November.
    13. Erin Hengel, 2022. "Publishing While Female: are Women Held to Higher Standards? Evidence from Peer Review," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(648), pages 2951-2991.
    14. Guido W. Imbens, 2021. "Statistical Significance, p-Values, and the Reporting of Uncertainty," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 157-174, Summer.
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    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General

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