Mike asked a valid question: "WHY one wants to publish old research data. Does one just want to get another entry into their publications list (for tenure/promotion/academic reasons)?"
It speaks for itself that there can be such secondary motives. However, Tipsters may (hopefully) find the reason behind my question interesting: I had this Sesotho-speaking PhD student from one of the poorest regions in South Africa. He was the first from his family to receive university training and most probably the first in his geographical area to receive a PhD. Two days before his graduation he totally unexpectedly passed away. At one stage I asked his family about publishing his results and they said they would discuss it with the family (very important in their culture). It is now about eight years later and his findings still have not been published. I thought it would mean a lot to the family if it could bedone. So, yes, there is also an emotional colour to my question. Another reason why I posted it on Tips. Take care. Dap -----Original Message----- From: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) digest [mailto:tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu] Sent: 14 January 2016 08:00 AM To: tips digest recipients Subject: tips digest: January 13, 2016 TIPS Digest for Wednesday, January 13, 2016. 1. The National Academies Press 2. Old but still useful? 3. RE: Old but still useful? 4. RE: Old but still useful? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: The National Academies Press From: "Mike Palij" <m...@nyu.edu> Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 08:30:13 -0500 X-Message-Number: 1 I just wanted to let Tipsters know about a service provided by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) through the National Academies Press. It's called "MyNAP" and it provides a newsletter about current and previous publications but here's the good part: a number of these publications are available for free in PDF format. That is, the book version (hardcover or paperback) has a regular retail price (sometimes they are discounted) as well as an ebook version but the PDF is free. Now, not all PDFs are free but sometimes a pay-for PDF does become available for free if only for a short time. Here are two examples of books that are in this week's newsletter: the 2008 "Science, Evolution, and Creationism"; see: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11876/science-evolution-and-creationism And the 2012 "Thinking Evolutionarily"; see: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13403/thinking-evolutionarily-evolution-education-across-the-life-sciences-summary-of More information on the MyNAP service can be found here: http://www.nap.edu/content/using-mynap NOTE: registering into the MyNAP program also provides one with a discount (usually 10%) for paper books. The publications cover many different topics and a number of them are relevant to psychology and, more generally, the conduct of scientific research. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Old but still useful? From: Dap Louw <lou...@ufs.ac.za> Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 15:33:36 +0000 X-Message-Number: 2 Tipsters I'm looking for guidelines on when gathered data is regarded as too old to be used for an article in a scientific journal. I specifically refer to Psychology. I fully realize that it's relative and will be determined by several factors, but I would still appreciate your opinions. Maybe a few examples could also help. Thanks. Dap [UFS Logo] Dap Louw Extraordinary Professor: Psychology Buitengewone Professor: Sielkunde Faculty / Fakulteit: The Humanities / Geesteswetenskappe PO Box / Posbus 339, Bloemfontein 9300, Republic of South Africa / Republiek van Suid-Afrika [http://apps.ufs.ac.za/emailsignature/siteimages/icon_tel.jpg]27(0)43 841 1193 [http://apps.ufs.ac.za/emailsignature/siteimages/icon_cel.jpg]27(0)83 391 8331 [http://apps.ufs.ac.za/emailsignature/siteimages/icon_mail.jpg]lou...@ufs.ac.za [http://apps.ufs.ac.za/emailsignature/siteimages/icon_facebook.png]<http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/pages/University-of-the-Free-State/175257709184139>[http://apps.ufs.ac.za/emailsignature/siteimages/icon_twitter.png]<http://twitter.com/#%21/UFSweb>[http://apps.ufs.ac.za/emailsignature/siteimages/icon_youtube.png]<http://www.youtube.com/UFSWeb> [http://apps.ufs.ac.za/emailsignature/siteimages/inspire.jpg] [http://apps.ufs.ac.za/emailsignature/siteimages/inspireer.jpg] _____________________________________________________________________ University of the Free State: This message and its contents are subject to a disclaimer. Please refer to http://www.ufs.ac.za/disclaimer for full details. Universiteit van die Vrystaat: Hierdie boodskap en sy inhoud is aan 'n vrywaringsklousule onderhewig. Volledige besonderhede is by http://www.ufs.ac.za/vrywaring beskikbaar. _____________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: Old but still useful? From: Miguel Roig <ro...@stjohns.edu> Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 12:21:54 -0500 X-Message-Number: 3 Dap, you raise a very interesting question and I look forward to others' opinions. I suppose that whether the data are deemed worthy of publication will depend on several factors, such as the degree to which the data are relevant/applicable (e.g., attitudes toward same-sex marriage in the US). I did some searching and found a couple of discussions that may be of relevance. https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_late_is_too_late_to_publish_clinical_research https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_late_is_too_late_to_publish_clinical_research A related question is whether authors should be required to disclose when their data were collected. Miguel ________________________________________ From: Dap Louw [lou...@ufs.ac.za] Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 10:33 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Old but still useful? Tipsters I'm looking for guidelines on when gathered data is regarded as too old to be used for an article in a scientific journal. I specifically refer to Psychology. I fully realize that it's relative and will be determined by several factors, but I would still appreciate your opinions. Maybe a few examples could also help. Thanks. Dap [cid:image001.jpg@01D14E28.3902D3C0] Dap Louw Extraordinary Professor: Psychology Buitengewone Professor: Sielkunde Faculty / Fakulteit: The Humanities / Geesteswetenskappe PO Box / Posbus 339, Bloemfontein 9300, Republic of South Africa / Republiek van Suid-Afrika [cid:image002.jpg@01D14E28.3902D3C0]27(0)43 841 1193 [cid:image003.jpg@01D14E28.3902D3C0]27(0)83 391 8331 [cid:image004.jpg@01D14E28.3902D3C0]lou...@ufs.ac.za [cid:image005.png@01D14E28.3902D3C0]<http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/pages/University-of-the-Free-State/175257709184139>[cid:image006.png@01D14E28.3902D3C0]<http://twitter.com/#%21/UFSweb>[cid:image007.png@01D14E28.3902D3C0]<http://www.youtube.com/UFSWeb> [cid:image008.jpg@01D14E28.3902D3C0] [cid:image009.jpg@01D14E28.3902D3C0] ________________________________ University of the Free State: This message and its contents are subject to a disclaimer. Please refer to http://www.ufs.ac.za/disclaimer for full details. Universiteit van die Vrystaat: Hierdie boodskap en sy inhoud is aan 'n vrywaringsklousule onderhewig. Volledige besonderhede is by http://www.ufs.ac.za/disclaimer vrywaring beskikbaar. ________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: ro...@stjohns.edu<mailto:ro...@stjohns.edu>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=1632838.7e62b84813297f170a6fc240dab8c12d&n=T&l=tips&o=47848 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-47848-1632838.7e62b84813297f170a6fc240dab8c...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-47848-1632838.7e62b84813297f170a6fc240dab8c...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: Old but still useful? From: "Mike Palij" <m...@nyu.edu> Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 15:56:14 -0500 X-Message-Number: 4 Let me suggest some additional factors that should be considered on whether data has "aged out" or is still relevant: (1) What was the research question addressed by the research and has the theoretical and/or empirical basis for the research question changed since the research was first done? For example, today we know that the initial formulation of the Levels/Depth of Processing (LoP) theory is incorrect, that is, sensory memory representations are not more "fragile" than semantic (abstract propositional) representations. The work on Douglas Nelson on his Sensory-Semantic model and other results such as the Picture superiority effect show under which condition sensory based memories are either remembered as well as semantic based memories or are superior to them. One important factor here is whether interference effects (e.g., similarity of stimulus items) are induced by the stimuli used. Recognition memory for picture is typically significantly higher than recognition memory to equivalent word EXCEPT when the pictures are highly similar to each other -- recognition memory for such pictures is reduced. So, if one has data that one collected in support of LoP, one has to determine whether it actually provides either new information that current theoretical explanations need to take into account or whether it is more of the "same-old, same-old" results. In the latter case, the data and results have reduced/little relevance. (2) Do the data come from an experimental study or nonexperimental (i.e., quasi-experimental, correlational, survey, observational, etc.) research? If one has data from an experiment with high internal validity and addresses a still interesting question (how interesting is a relevant parameter), I don't see why the research can't be published especially if not much experimental research has been done in the area. I feel somewhat less sure about nonexperimental research unless it provides insight into some phenomenon at some earlier point in time that has not been adequately reviewed or analyzed (e.g., attitude studies of U.S. citizens toward fascism during the 1930s and prior to the Pearl Harbor attack). But if the research has low internal validity and other types of validity, I think age may not be the most important problem or objection to the research. (3) Clinical vs non-clinical research: my own feeling is that research in traditional areas of experimental psychology (i.e., learning, perception, psychophysics, problem solving, reasoning, etc.) may provide support publication of an old research study. I am less sure about clinical studies but that may just be my own bias as an experimental/cognitive psychologist who admits to having committed clinical research at various points in time of my career (I'm trying to stick to the straight and narrow). Again, one has to determine if the research is still relevant or not, have subsequent research gone beyond the questions addressed in the original research. So, I think one would need to know a lot more about the research, where it falls in a research tradition, and whether it still has relevance to the field. Of course, one should also ask WHY one wants to publish old research data. Does one just want to get another entry into their publications list (for tenure/promotion/academic reasons)? If so, go ahead -- there are more than enough publishers out there who will publish stuff especially if you pay for it.. If one thinks that the research really does make a significant contribution to an area and is still relevant, then the fact that it is old research is not really relevant. If the research is good from a design and analysis perspective, if it addresses questions that are interesting and still relevant, then I think one should try to publish the research. Just make sure that the results you want to present are not contradicted by subsequent research because you will have to explain this discrepancy ("well, i did this before so-and-so did their study and found the opposite result which has be widely replicated -- I thought that my research still should become part of the knowledgebase" -- don't be surprised if people are not convinced by this argument). -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu On Wed, 13 Jan 2016 09:23:47 -0800, Miguel Roig wrote: >Dap, you raise a very interesting question and I look forward to >others' opinions. I suppose that whether the data are deemed worthy of >publication will depend on several factors, such as the degree to which >the data are relevant/applicable (e.g., attitudes toward same-sex >marriage in the US). I did some searching and found a couple of >discussions that may be of relevance. > > https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_late_is_too_late_to_publish_clin > ical_research > >A related question is whether authors should be required to disclose >when their data were collected. > >On Wednesday, January 13, 2016 10:33 AM, Dap Louw wrote: >>Tipsters >> >>I'm looking for guidelines on when gathered data is regarded as too >>old to be used for an article in a scientific journal. I specifically >>refer to Psychology. I fully realize that it's relative and will be >>determined by several factors, but I would still appreciate your >>opinions. Maybe a few examples could also help. --- END OF DIGEST --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: lou...@ufs.ac.za To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=2737536.32dc2bf8f2ad52f3f703ac67c93f1d63&n=T&l=tips&o=47853 or send a blank email to leave-47853-2737536.32dc2bf8f2ad52f3f703ac67c93f1...@fsulist.frostburg.edu _____________________________________________________________________ University of the Free State: This message and its contents are subject to a disclaimer. Please refer to http://www.ufs.ac.za/disclaimer for full details. Universiteit van die Vrystaat: Hierdie boodskap en sy inhoud is aan 'n vrywaringsklousule onderhewig. Volledige besonderhede is by http://www.ufs.ac.za/vrywaring beskikbaar. _____________________________________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@mail-archive.com. 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