HARKing, transparency, and honesty in reporting: improving reporting of scientific articles

Authors

  • Aleksi Reito Center for Musculoskeletal Diseases, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere and Coxa Hospital for Joint Replace- ment, Tampere, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6903-6461
  • Robin Christensen Section for Biostatistics and Evidence-Based Research, the Parker Institute, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, and Research Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6600-0631
  • Soren Overgaard Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg Frederiksberg, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Copenhagen, and Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6829-4787

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2340/17453674.2026.46651

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References

Kerr N L. HARKing: hypothesizing after the results are known. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 1998; 2(3): 3. doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr0203_4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0203_4

Ranstam J. Hypothesis-generating and confirmatory studies, Bonferroni correction, and pre-specification of trial endpoints. Acta Orthop 2019; 90(4): 297. doi: 10.1080/17453674.2019.1612624 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17453674.2019.1612624

Munafò M R, Nosek B A, Bishop D V M, Button K S, Chambers C D, du Sert N P, et al. A manifesto for reproducible science. Nat Hum Behav 2017; 1: 0021. doi: 10.1038/s41562-016-0021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-016-0021

Liukkonen R, Vaajala M, Kuitunen I, Mattila V M, Ponkilainen V, Uimonen M, et al. Improving research reproducibility in surgery: a narrative review on caveats in research methodology. Scand J Surg 2025; 114(4): 494-504. doi: 10.1177/14574969251371880. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14574969251371880

Christensen R, Haugegaard T, Jakobsen J C. Role of prespecified analysis plans in physiological research: encouraged or mandatory? Exp Physiol 2025; 110(9): 1186-91. doi: 10.1113/EP092034 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1113/EP092034

Colquhoun D. An investigation of the false discovery rate and the misinterpretation of p-values. R Soc Open Sci 2014; 1(3): 3. doi: 10.1098/rsos.140216 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.140216

Ioannidis J P A. Why most published research findings are false. PLoS Med 2005; 2(8): 8. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124

Ioannidis J P A, Greenland S, Hlatky M A, Khoury M J, Macleod M R, Moher D, et al. Increasing value and reducing waste in research design, conduct, and analysis. Lancet 2014; 383(9912): 9912. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62227-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62227-8

Hollenbeck J R, Wright P M. Harking, Sharking, and Tharking: making the case for post hoc analysis of scientific data. J Manag 2017; 43(1): 5-18. doi: 10.1177/0149206316679487. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316679487

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Published

2026-09-03

How to Cite

Reito, A., Christensen, R., & Overgaard, S. (2026). HARKing, transparency, and honesty in reporting: improving reporting of scientific articles. Acta Orthopaedica, 97, 585–586. https://doi.org/10.2340/17453674.2026.46651

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