Tests for Identifying 'Red Flags' in Empirical Findings: Demonstration and Recommendations for Authors, Reviewers, and Editors

摘要

High-profile article retractions, survey results indicating falsification of data, and evidence of mistaken findings raise concerns that problematic empirical research has found its way into the management field's literatures. To help safeguard the field against such vagaries, we describe three tests that can be applied to most empirical articles to assess the accuracy of the reported findings. Using a retracted article as an example, we also demonstrate how the tests uncover reporting anomalies. The results identify numerous irregularities which would have raised "red flags" had the tests been applied to the article while it was under review. We offer recommendations to authors, reviewers, and journal editors to help protect the trustworthiness of management research.