{"entity":{"id":"idea-tr2-automated-stats-check","kind":"idea","name":"Run automated statistics and image checks on every cancer manuscript before review","aka":[],"tldr":"Software can already spot impossible statistics, mismatched p-values and duplicated images in a paper. Journals should run these checks on every submission, as spell-check runs on every document.","summary":"Tools such as statcheck (recomputing p-values from reported test statistics), GRIM and SPRITE (checking whether means are possible given sample sizes) and image-duplication detectors identify errors and manipulation at scale. Some journals run image checks; almost none run statistical checks routinely. Integrating a pipeline at submission, with results shown to authors and reviewers, would catch a substantial fraction of errors before publication and deter fabrication.","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"statcheck","url":"https://github.com/MicheleNuijten/statcheck"}],"tags":[],"related":["idea-tr2-outcome-switching-monitor","idea-tr2-raw-image-deposit"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-reproducibility"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"hypothesis":"Routine checks flag actionable issues in at least 10% of oncology submissions, and journals using them see a lower subsequent correction and retraction rate than matched journals without them.","rationale":"statcheck found inconsistent p-values in about half of psychology papers, with a meaningful share changing significance; image duplication has been documented in about 4% of biomedical papers.","test":"Deploy the pipeline at two oncology journals for a year; report flag rates, author responses and downstream correction rates.","maturity":"early-clinical","actor":"engineering","cost":"small","horizonYears":1},"route":"/ideas/idea-tr2-automated-stats-check/","neighbours":{"idea":[{"id":"idea-tr2-outcome-switching-monitor","kind":"idea","name":"Automatically detect when a trial changes its outcomes after the fact","route":"/ideas/idea-tr2-outcome-switching-monitor/"},{"id":"idea-tr2-raw-image-deposit","kind":"idea","name":"Deposit the raw blots, gels and microscopy images behind every figure","route":"/ideas/idea-tr2-raw-image-deposit/"},{"id":"idea-tr2-paid-statistical-review","kind":"idea","name":"Paid independent statistical review for preclinical papers that inform trials","route":"/ideas/idea-tr2-paid-statistical-review/"},{"id":"idea-tr2-bicr-discordance-public","kind":"idea","name":"Publish the disagreement between trial doctors and independent reviewers for every trial","route":"/ideas/idea-tr2-bicr-discordance-public/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-reproducibility","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Preclinical results do not reproduce","route":"/bottlenecks/b-reproducibility/"}]}}