Questionable Research Practices (QRPs)—a term popularized by John, Loewenstein and Prelec (2012)—have increasingly been held up as a threat to the integrity of science. In contrast to scientific fraud, QRPs are not deliberately intended to create a false impression. However, with QRPs, scientific data can be inappropriately collected, handled or presented, leading to erroneous conclusions.
Traumatic stress research has provided essential insights into nature of PTSD, risk and resilience factors, and treatment approaches. However, as with all research fields, QRPs can reduce the reliability of some of the findings. This article briefly outlines three QRPs and presents preregistration as one approach to limiting QRPs.
