New Research Partnership Pushes for Increased Transparency & Publication of Negative Research

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB), the Center for Biomedical Research Transparency (CBMRT) and Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, in their continued efforts to advance the publication of research with negative findings, announced today the launch of Neurotrauma Reports Null Hypothesis at the 10^th Annual Traumatic Brian Injury Conference. 

Null Hypothesis is a collaborative initiative dedicated to publishing well-performed replication and negative studies — or studies where the outcomes do not confirm expected results or working hypotheses — via dedicated journal space.  First launched in 2018 with Neurology^®, the flagship journal of the American Academy of Neurology, the goal of Null Hypothesis is to catalyze a culture shift in science by publishing studies with negative findings as standard practice.

As part of CVB‘s ongoing mission to drive reproducible, robust, and confirmatory science, CVB is providing the financial support to make articles with negative or replicable study findings freely available online. CBMRT is applying its highly successful Null Hypothesis model and Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is providing the publication infrastructure.

The reporting of a well-performed replication or negative study (and sharing of underlying data) has significant value in the scientific process. It helps researchers avoid pursuing less productive lines of inquiry, increases transparency and public trust in the research, and helps funders identify dead ends when making decisions on future research investments. Most importantly, without transparent and balanced reporting, the state of the science of the field cannot be fully understood.

According to CVB‘s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Andreas Jeromin, “This is particularly important for brain trauma-related disorders, including traumatic brain injury, where there are few FDA-approved treatments, and a limited understanding of the biological underpinnings of the disorders. Without replicating studies or the publication of negative results and knowing what might be beneficial or not, progress in the development of personalized therapeutic approaches aimed at improving patient care will continue to stall.” Dr. Jeromin added, “Ensuring all well-performed research finds its way from the file drawer to the public requires a commitment from researchers, funders, and publishers to report on important negative results with the same priority as positive results.”

The Null Hypothesis initiative has already demonstrated its potential to promote balance in academic publications by urging more researchers in the neurology and cardiology fields to submit important negative and inconclusive research findings for peer review.

“Together we can address publication bias by encouraging the write-up and publication of all well-performed studies – including those with ‘negative‘/null or inconclusive findings,” asserts A/Professor Sandra Petty, CEO of CBMRT. “Doing so not only improves research culture but also ensures clinical practice is informed by a more complete and balanced record – to ultimately reduce the risk of avoidable harm to patients.”

“Today‘s launch of the Null Hypothesis special collection is accompanied by an editorial and call for papers in Neurotrauma Reports. We are extremely pleased that CBMRT and CVB reached out to our newly launched online journal to provide an avenue for publishing these types of studies in the field of neurotrauma. The timely and rapid publication of negative or inconclusive findings will guide future neurotrauma research and in turn inform our constituencies, i.e. scientists, clinicians, and the public, of these important results,” says Dr. Helen Bramlett, Editor-in-Chief, Neurotrauma Reports.

About Cohen Veterans Bioscience

Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research organization dedicated to fast-tracking the development of diagnostic tests and personalized therapeutics for the millions of Veterans and civilians who suffer the devastating effects of trauma-related and other brain disorders. CVB is led by a multi-disciplinary team of neuroscientists, clinicians, engineers and bioinformaticians devoted to promoting best practices in research for evidence-driven, reproducible, and effective solutions. CVB is also the lead organization behind the US branch of the Global Preclinical Data Forum, a joint US and European initiative that encourages global collaboration to address modern issues in preclinical science, with the goal of enhancing data utility for clinical research and development.  CVB also sponsors the “Best Negative Data Prize”, a first of its kind award aimed at incentivizing the publication of high-quality negative research results in the field of neuroscience.

About CBMRT

CBMRT was founded by Dr. Sandra Petty (neurologist, researcher and medical educator) and Dr. Hugo Stephenson (clinical trials and IT specialist) in 2017 in New York. CBMRT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization facilitating publication and greater visibility of negative, inconclusive, and replication studies through partnerships with major societies and their journals to publish an annual supplement, the Null Hypothesis (H0). CBMRT also hosts the annual Biomedical Transparency Summit series, connecting stakeholders across the global research funding and output reporting environment who are committed to driving greater transparency in biomedical research. www.cbmrt.org.

About Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a leading independent publisher of authoritative peer-reviewed journals, books, and trade publications in the emerging areas of biotechnology and regenerative medicine, biomedical research, medicine and surgery, public health research and policy. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. recently launched Neurotrauma Reports, a new, fully open access journal that focuses on basic pathobiology of injury to the central nervous system and will include preclinical and clinical trials targeted at improving early management and long-term care/recovery of traumatically injured patients.

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SOURCE Cohen Veterans Bioscience