OnCo
ideasIdea

A funder-backed, indexed journal of negative and inconclusive cancer results

Create a proper, indexed journal that publishes failed experiments and trials quickly, with fees paid by funders so that there is no barrier to reporting failure.

Previous attempts (the Journal of Negative Results in BioMedicine, which ceased in 2017) lacked funder backing and prestige. A journal owned by a consortium of major cancer funders, indexed in PubMed, with rapid methods-focused review, no publication charge, and citation in funders' progress reports would create a credible venue. Rigour of methods, not direction of result, is the acceptance criterion.

Hypothesis
The journal publishes at least 300 negative or inconclusive oncology papers per year by year three, and citation analysis shows that these papers are cited in subsequent grant applications and protocols.
Rationale
Publication bias is partly a venue problem: authors report that no journal wants a null. Funder ownership addresses the prestige and cost barriers together.
What would test it
Launch with commitments from three funders; monitor submissions, time to decision, and citations at three years.
Maturity
speculative
Who has to act
philanthropy
Cost to try
Small (under $1M)
Years to first evidence
2
Bottlenecks it attacks
  • Failures are hidden · Negative trials, failed drugs and abandoned programmes are rarely published, so the same mistakes are repeated.

Connected

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