Causes of Misleading Statistics and Research Results Irreproducibility: A Concise Review

Abstract

Bad statistics make research papers unreproducible and misleading. For the most part, the reasons for such misusage of numerical data have been found and addressed years ago by experts and proper practical solutions have been presented instead. Yet, we still see numerous instances of statistical fallacies in modern researches which without a doubt play a significant role in the research reproducibility crisis. In this paper, we review different bad practices that impact the research process from its beginning to its very end. Additionally, we briefly propose open science as a universal methodology that can facilitate the entire research life cycle.