Publication Bias in Strategic Management Research

Publication bias is the systematic suppression of research findings due to small magnitude, statistical insignificance, or contradiction of prior findings or theory. We review possible reasons why publication bias may exist in strategy research and examine empirical evidence regarding the influence of publication bias in the field. Overall, we conclude that publication bias affects many, but not all, topics in strategic management research. Correlation inflation due to publication bias ranged in magnitude from .00, indicating no bias, to .19, representing considerable bias. These results suggest that caution should be exercised when interpreting scientific conclusions regarding certain determinants of firm performance, while greater confidence may be expressed in others. We discuss how publication bias can be addressed both philosophically and empirically in the domain of strategy.