This chapter discusses the increased occurrence of publication bias in the scientific literature. Publication bias is associated with the inaccurate representation of the merit of a hypothesis or idea. A strict definition is that it occurs when the published literature reports results that systematically differ from those of all studies and statistical tests conducted; the result is that false conclusions are drawn. The chapter presents five main approaches used to either detect potential narrow sense publication bias or assess how sensitive the results of a meta-analysis are to the possible exclusion. These include funnel plots, tests for relationships between effect size and sample size using nonparametric correlation or regression, trim and fill method, fail-safe numbers, and model selection.

Citation metrics are widely used as a surrogate measure of scientific merit; however, these indices may be sensitive to factors and influences unrelated to merit. We examined citation rates for 5883 articles in relation to number of authors, first author's primary language, and gender. Citation rates were unrelated to primary language and gender but increased with author number. These findings add to a growing body of indirect evidence for potential attitudinal bias in the perceived merit of publications within ecology.

Abstract. Cushion-forming plant species are found in alpine and polar environments around the world. They modify the microclimate, thereby facilitating other plant species. Similar to the effectiveness of shrubs as a means to study facilitation in arid and semi-arid environments, we explore the potential for cushion plant species to expand the generality of research on this contemporary ecological interaction. A systematic review was conducted to determine the number of publications and citation frequency on relevant ecological topics whilst using shrub literature as a baseline to assess relative importance of cushions as a focal point for future ecological research. Although there are forty times more shrub articles, mean citations per paper is comparable between cushion and shrub literature. Furthermore, the scope of ecological research topics studied using cushions is broad including facilitation, competition, environmental gradients, life history, genetics, reproduction, community, ecosystem and evolution. The preliminary ecological evidence to date also strongly suggests that cushion plants can be keystone species in their ecosystems. Hence, ecological research on net interactions including facilitation and patterns of diversity can be successfully examined using cushion plants, and this is particularly timely given expectations associated with a changing climate in these regions.

Abstract:When choosing where to submit their research for publication, most ecologists are concerned with journal impact factor, but they are also concerned with the likelihood that their manuscripts will be accepted. Based on a survey of ecologists, we found different degrees of relative concern for these journal attributes depending on author experience and gender. However, the ability of authors to choose among journals based on these journal attributes is limited: while journal impact factors are published regularly, journal rejection rates are not. We obtained, by permission, rejection rate data for a sample of 60 ecology journals for the year 2004. As expected, journals with higher impact factors also have higher rejection rates, but the ratio of [rejection rate] / [impact factor] increases sharply with decreasing impact factor below 1.76. Journals with impact factors below this value therefore provide relatively low payback in terms of impact against cost as estimated by rejection rate. We discuss alternative possible interpretations of this relationship and alternative criteria that might affect an author's decision about journal choice. Most importantly, our analysis indicates that the ability to make informed choices requires that journals publish their rejection rates annually.

Biological diversity depends on multiple, cooccurring ecological interactions. However, most studies focus on one interaction type at a time, leaving community ecologists unsure of how positive and negative associations among species combine to influence biodiversity patterns. Using surveys of plant populations in alpine communities worldwide, we explore patterns of positive and negative associations among triads of species (modules) and their relationship to local biodiversity. Three modules, each incorporating both positive and negative associations, were overrepresented, thus acting as "network motifs." Furthermore, the overrepresentation of these network motifs is positively linked to species diversity globally. A theoretical model illustrates that these network motifs, based on competition between facilitated species or facilitation between inferior competitors, increase local persistence. Our findings suggest that the interplay of competition and facilitation is crucial for maintaining biodiversity.