The file-drawer problem revisited: A general weighted method for calculating fail-safe numbers in meta-analysis

Peer-reviewed Article

The file-drawer problem revisited: A general weighted method for calculating fail-safe numbers in meta-analysis

Abstract

Quantitative literature reviews such as meta-analysis are becoming common in evolutionary biology but may be strongly affected by publication biases. Using fail-safe numbers is a quick way to estimate whether publication bias is likely to be a problem for a specific study. However, previously suggested fail-safe calculations are unweighted and are not based on the framework in which most meta-analyses are performed. A general, weighted fail-safe calculation, grounded in the meta-analysis framework, applicable to both fixed- and random-effects models, is proposed. Recent meta-analyses published in Evolution are used for illustration.

Full Citation

Rosenberg, M.S. (2005) The file-drawer problem revisited: A general weighted method for calculating fail-safe numbers in meta-analysis. Evolution 59(2):464–468.

976 citations as of 2024-02-19

Evolutionary Biological Data Science Laboratory