Election Statements

Statements from Candidates for Election

The goal of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) is to bring together scholars who are working to evaluate and improve methods and practices in psychological science. Our specific aims are to improve the training and research practices of psychological scientists, to improve institutional policies and norms to incentivize better scientific practices, to conduct empirical tests regarding best practices in the field, and to conduct outreach within and outside of psychology to achieve a broad, diverse, and inclusive community working towards the improvement of cultural and personal research practices.

As part of these efforts, SIPS is offering to work with members of other scientific organizations to facilitate communication about support for open practices and methodological reform among candidates for elected office. In the past, members of other scientific societies have contacted SIPS, asking us whether we could solicit information from candidates about the types of policies they support. The individuals who have contacted SIPS voiced concerns about the lack of information about candidates’ views on these topics; yet they also indicated that they might feel intimidated contacting candidates themselves to obtain this information. To address this issue, SIPS is offering to poll candidates about their views on open science and research practices and to make their responses available to members of that organization for consideration when voting.

Because different areas within psychology vary considerably in existing norms and practices, and because the specific issues that are most salient may vary by sub-discipline, the question we will ask will be broad and open-ended. Specifically, candidates will be asked to provide responses to the following question:

“If elected to [OFFICE] of [ORGANIZATION], what (if any) policies would you promote to improve research in psychology and how would you support open science practices and research transparency at [ORGANIZATION] and in the field of psychology more broadly?”

Responses from candidates will be posted unedited on the SIPS website. SIPS will not provide commentary on the responses that are provided, nor will the society endorse candidates based on the answers they provide. Instead, the goal of this effort is simply to facilitate communication about candidates’ views on open practices, research transparency, and the need for methodological reform.

The SIPS Executive Committee recognizes that organizations differ in their concerns about these issues. Therefore, we will only contact candidates for elected office in an organization or society if a member of that organization makes a request for this information or the leadership of the organization explicitly asks to partner with SIPS in making this information available. Interested members or representatives from other organizations can contact us at sips@improvingpsych.org. All responses that we solicit will be posted here.

Links

Association for Research in Personality (2018)