1. ^aDepartment of Political Science, University of Helsinki. P.O. Box 54 (Unioninkatu 37), FIN-00014, Finland. E-mail: david.lehrer@helsinki.fi
2. ^bEuropean Trade Union Institute, Research Department, Blv. du Roi Albert II, 5 box 4, B-1210 Bruxelles, Belgium. E-mail: jleschke@etui-rehs.org
3. ^cMax Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Konrad-Zuse-Strasse 1, D-18057 Rostock, Germany. E-mail: lhachimi@jspurc.org
4. ^dNational Centre for Sustainable Development, Dr. Burghelea 36, RO-73102 Bucharest, Romania. E-mail: vasiliu@jspurc.org
5. ^eDepartment of Political Science, University of Tübingen, Melanchthonstr 36, D-72074 Tübingen, Germany

Correspondence: Brigitte Weiffen, E-mail: britta.weiffen@uni-tuebingen.de

Abstract

Do academic publication standards reflect or determine research results? The article proposes minimal criteria for distinguishing useful 'unpublishable' results from low-quality research, and argues that the virtues of negative results have been overlooked. We consider the fate these results have suffered thus far, review arguments for and against their publication and introduce a new initiative – a journal to disseminate negative results and advance debate on their recognition and use.