Learning From Mistakes: Teaching Students About Errata, Corrigenda, and Nonretraction Corrections to the Research Literature

Abstract

Publication guidelines indicate that when substantive errors in research are noted after the publication of a research report, a correction (also known as an erratum or corrigendum) should be issued. Although such corrections are published with some regularity in psychology and in other scientific fields, the issue of corrections to the scientific literature is seldom addressed in the kinds of research methods textbooks often used in undergraduate psychology courses. This article briefly reviews the existing literature on the frequency and effectiveness of scientific correction generally and extends that literature to the domain of psychology specifically, with an emphasis on what undergraduate students should know.

Full text

TEACHER-READY RESEARCH REVIEW
Learning From Mistakes: Teaching Students About Errata, Corrigenda,
and Nonretraction Corrections to the Research Literature
Heather A. Haas
The University of Montana Western
Steven V. Rouse
Pepperdine University
Publication guidelines indicate that when substantive errors in research are noted after
the publication of a research report, a correction (also known as an erratum or
corrigendum) should be issued. Although such corrections are published with some
regularity in psychology and in other scientific fields, the issue of corrections to the
scientific literature is seldom addressed in the kinds of research methods textbooks
often used in undergraduate psychology courses. This article briefly reviews the
existing literature on the frequency and effectiveness of scientific correction generally
and extends that literature to the domain of psychology specifically, with an emphasis
on what undergraduate students should know.
Keywords: errata, corrigenda, correction notices, research methods, Autism-Spectrum
Quotient (AQ)
The so-called replication crisis has encouraged
psychologists to turn a critical eye to their own
research practices and spurred the development of
relevant resources for psychology instructors. The
Noba Project, for example, includes a reading on
“The Replication Crisis in Psychology” (Diener &
Biswas-Diener, 2015) and materials for a 1-hr
lecture on the topic have also been made available
(Chopik, Bremner, Defever, & Keller, 2018). Eye
on Psi Chi published a synopsis of current reform
efforts (Chartier, Lewis, & McCarthy, 2018), and
the Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research has
published pieces reviewing the replication crisis
and describing the way the journal has adopted
and adapted the Open Science badge system for
articles published in the journal (Rouse, 2017,
2018).
Related changes in research practices have
opened new possibilities for psychology in-
structors. Open Data articles have been repur-
posed as fodder for reanalysis in undergraduate
psychology courses (McIntyre, 2017; see also
openstatslab.com), and a number of authors
have proposed or described integrating replica-
tion attempts into undergraduate research meth-
ods classes (Asendorpf et al., 2013;Edlund,
2016;Frank & Saxe, 2012;Grahe, 2017;Grahe
et al., 2012;Grahe, Brandt, Ijzerman, & Co-
hoon, 2014;Koole & Lakens, 2012;Lenne &
Mann, 2016;Standing, 2016;Standing, As-
trologo, Benbow, Cyr-Gauthier, & Williams,
2016;Standing, Grenier, Lane, Roberts, &
Sykes, 2014).
1
Although these shifts in prac-
1
The extent to which students benefit from participation
in replication attempts appears to require further empirical
demonstration, however (Jern, 2018).
Heather A. Haas, Department of History, Philosophy, and
Social Sciences, The University of Montana Western; Steven
V. Rouse, Social Science Division, Pepperdine University.
We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Kaylynn
Baker, who helped with the review of textbook coverage.
We would also like to thank LaGrange College for provid-
ing guest researcher access to library databases, and
LaGrange College librarians Charlene Baxter and Arthur
Robinson for external confirmation of some search results.
Correspondence concerning this article should be ad-
dressed to Heather A. Haas, Department of History, Philos-
ophy, and Social Sciences, The University of Montana
Western, Dillon, MT 59725. E-mail: heather.haas@
umwestern.edu
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
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Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology
© 2020 American Psychological Association
ISSN: 2332-2101 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/stl0000216
58
2022, Vol. 8, No. 1, 58–69
This article was published Online First September 10, 2020.