1. Medicine
  2. Neuroscience

Consensus-based guidance for conducting and reporting multi-analyst studies

  1. Balazs Aczel  Is a corresponding author
  2. Barnabas Szaszi  Is a corresponding author
  3. Gustav Nilsonne
  4. Olmo R van den Akker
  5. Casper J Albers
  6. Marcel ALM van Assen
  7. Jojanneke A Bastiaansen
  8. Daniel Benjamin
  9. Udo Boehm
  10. Rotem Botvinik-Nezer
  11. Laura F Bringmann
  12. Niko A Busch
  13. Emmanuel Caruyer
  14. Andrea M Cataldo
  15. Nelson Cowan
  16. Andrew Delios
  17. Noah N N van Dongen
  18. Chris Donkin
  19. Johnny B van Doorn
  20. Ann Dreber
  21. Gilles Dutilh
  22. Gary F Egan
  23. Morton Ann Gernsbacher
  24. Rink Hoekstra
  25. Sabine Hoffmann
  26. Felix Holzmeister
  27. Juergen Huber
  28. Magnus Johannesson
  29. Kai J Jonas
  30. Alexander T Kindel
  31. Michael Kirchler
  32. Yoram K Kunkels
  33. D Stephen Lindsay
  34. Jean-Francois Mangin
  35. Dora Matzke
  36. Marcus R Munafò
  37. Ben R Newell
  38. Brian A Nosek
  39. Russell A Poldrack
  40. Don van Ravenzwaaij
  41. Jörg Rieskamp
  42. Matthew J Salganik
  43. Alexandra Sarafoglou
  44. Tom Schonberg
  45. Martin Schweinsberg
  46. David Shanks
  47. Raphael Silberzahn
  48. Daniel J Simons
  49. Barbara A Spellman
  50. Samuel St-Jean
  51. Jeffrey J Starns
  52. Eric Luis Uhlmann
  53. Jelte Wicherts
  54. Eric-Jan Wagenmakers
  1. Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
  2. Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
  3. Tilburg University, Netherlands
  4. University of Groningen, Netherlands
  5. University of Southern California, United States
  6. University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
  7. Dartmouth Collge, United States
  8. University of Muenster, Germany
  9. University of Rennes, France
  10. McLean Hospital, United States
  11. University of Missouri, United States
  12. National University of Singapore, Singapore
  13. University of New South Wales, Australia
  14. Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden
  15. University Hospital Basel, Switzerland
  16. Monash University, Australia
  17. University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States
  18. Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Germany
  19. University of Innsbruck, Austria
  20. Maastricht University, Netherlands
  21. Princeton University, United States
  22. University of Victoria, Canada
  23. Université Paris-Saclay, France
  24. University of Bristol, United Kingdom
  25. Center for Open Science and University of Virginia, United States
  26. Stanford University, United States
  27. University of Basel, Switzerland
  28. Tel Aviv University, Israel
  29. ESMT Berlin, Germany
  30. University College London, United Kingdom
  31. University of Sussex, United Kingdom
  32. University of Illinois, United States
  33. University of Virginia, United States
  34. University of Alberta, Canada
  35. University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States
  36. INSEAD, Singapore
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72185
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Cite this article
  1. Balazs Aczel
  2. Barnabas Szaszi
  3. Gustav Nilsonne
  4. Olmo R van den Akker
  5. Casper J Albers
  6. Marcel ALM van Assen
  7. Jojanneke A Bastiaansen
  8. Daniel Benjamin
  9. Udo Boehm
  10. Rotem Botvinik-Nezer
  11. Laura F Bringmann
  12. Niko A Busch
  13. Emmanuel Caruyer
  14. Andrea M Cataldo
  15. Nelson Cowan
  16. Andrew Delios
  17. Noah N N van Dongen
  18. Chris Donkin
  19. Johnny B van Doorn
  20. Ann Dreber
  21. Gilles Dutilh
  22. Gary F Egan
  23. Morton Ann Gernsbacher
  24. Rink Hoekstra
  25. Sabine Hoffmann
  26. Felix Holzmeister
  27. Juergen Huber
  28. Magnus Johannesson
  29. Kai J Jonas
  30. Alexander T Kindel
  31. Michael Kirchler
  32. Yoram K Kunkels
  33. D Stephen Lindsay
  34. Jean-Francois Mangin
  35. Dora Matzke
  36. Marcus R Munafò
  37. Ben R Newell
  38. Brian A Nosek
  39. Russell A Poldrack
  40. Don van Ravenzwaaij
  41. Jörg Rieskamp
  42. Matthew J Salganik
  43. Alexandra Sarafoglou
  44. Tom Schonberg
  45. Martin Schweinsberg
  46. David Shanks
  47. Raphael Silberzahn
  48. Daniel J Simons
  49. Barbara A Spellman
  50. Samuel St-Jean
  51. Jeffrey J Starns
  52. Eric Luis Uhlmann
  53. Jelte Wicherts
  54. Eric-Jan Wagenmakers
(2021)
Consensus-based guidance for conducting and reporting multi-analyst studies
eLife 10:e72185.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72185
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Abstract

Any large dataset can be analyzed in a number of ways, and it is possible that the use of different analysis strategies will lead to different results and conclusions. One way to assess whether the results obtained depend on the analysis strategy chosen is to employ multiple analysts and leave each of them free to follow their own approach. Here, we present consensus-based guidance for conducting and reporting such multi-analyst studies, and we discuss how broader adoption of the multi-analyst approach has the potential to strengthen the robustness of results and conclusions obtained from analyses of datasets in basic and applied research.

Data availability

All anonymized data as well as the survey materials are publicly shared on the Open Science Framework page of the project: https://osf.io/4zvst/. Our methodology and data-analysis plan were preregistered. The preregistration document can be accessed at: https://osf.io/dgrua.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Balazs Aczel

    Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
    For correspondence
    balazs.aczel@gmail.com
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-9364-4988

  2. Barnabas Szaszi

    Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
    For correspondence
    szaszi.barnabas@ppk.elte.hu
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-7078-2712

  3. Gustav Nilsonne

    Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-5273-0150

  4. Olmo R van den Akker

    Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  5. Casper J Albers

    University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  6. Marcel ALM van Assen

    Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  7. Jojanneke A Bastiaansen

    University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-4831-6402

  8. Daniel Benjamin

    University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-2642-5416

  9. Udo Boehm

    University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-8677-0721

  10. Rotem Botvinik-Nezer

    Dartmouth Collge, Hanover, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-2669-1877

  11. Laura F Bringmann

    University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-8091-9935

  12. Niko A Busch

    Institute of Psychology, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-4837-0345

  13. Emmanuel Caruyer

    University of Rennes, Rennes, France
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-8547-7726

  14. Andrea M Cataldo

    McLean Hospital, Belmont, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-2787-224X

  15. Nelson Cowan

    University of Missouri, Columbia, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-3711-4338

  16. Andrew Delios

    National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-6791-227X

  17. Noah N N van Dongen

    University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0387-7388

  18. Chris Donkin

    University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  19. Johnny B van Doorn

    University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0270-096X

  20. Ann Dreber

    Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-3989-9941

  21. Gilles Dutilh

    University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  22. Gary F Egan

    Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-3186-4026

  23. Morton Ann Gernsbacher

    University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0397-3329

  24. Rink Hoekstra

    University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-1588-7527

  25. Sabine Hoffmann

    Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6197-8801

  26. Felix Holzmeister

    University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-9606-0427

  27. Juergen Huber

    University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0073-0321

  28. Magnus Johannesson

    Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-8759-6393

  29. Kai J Jonas

    Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  30. Alexander T Kindel

    Princeton University, Princeton, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  31. Michael Kirchler

    University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-5416-2545

  32. Yoram K Kunkels

    University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  33. D Stephen Lindsay

    University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  34. Jean-Francois Mangin

    Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-1612-461X

  35. Dora Matzke

    University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  36. Marcus R Munafò

    MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  37. Ben R Newell

    University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-1898-205X

  38. Brian A Nosek

    Center for Open Science and University of Virginia, Charlottesville, United States
    Competing interests
    Brian A Nosek, Executive Director of the Center for Open Science, a non-profit technology and culture change organization with a mission to increase openness, integrity, and reproducibility of research..

  39. Russell A Poldrack

    Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6755-0259

  40. Don van Ravenzwaaij

    University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-5030-4091

  41. Jörg Rieskamp

    Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-2632-8015

  42. Matthew J Salganik

    Princeton University, Princeton, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  43. Alexandra Sarafoglou

    University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  44. Tom Schonberg

    Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-4485-816X

  45. Martin Schweinsberg

    ESMT Berlin, Berlin, Germany
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-3529-9463

  46. David Shanks

    University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-4600-6323

  47. Raphael Silberzahn

    University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  48. Daniel J Simons

    University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  49. Barbara A Spellman

    University of Virginia, Charlottesville, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  50. Samuel St-Jean

    University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-8092-2974

  51. Jeffrey J Starns

    University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  52. Eric Luis Uhlmann

    INSEAD, Singapore, Singapore
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

  53. Jelte Wicherts

    Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-2415-2933

  54. Eric-Jan Wagenmakers

    University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

Funding

Netherlands Organisations for Scientific Research (406-17-568)

  • Alexandra Sarafoglou

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (BP-546283-2020)

  • Samuel St-Jean

Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (290978)

  • Samuel St-Jean

European Research Council (726361)

  • Jelte Wicherts

European Research Council (726361)

  • Olmo R van den Akker

European Research Council (681466)

  • Yoram K Kunkels

VIDI fellowship organisation (016.Vidi.188.001)

  • Don van Ravenzwaaij

VENI fellowship grant (Veni 191G.037)

  • Laura F Bringmann

National Science Foundation (1760052)

  • Matthew J Salganik

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

© 2021, Aczel et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Balazs Aczel
  2. Barnabas Szaszi
  3. Gustav Nilsonne
  4. Olmo R van den Akker
  5. Casper J Albers
  6. Marcel ALM van Assen
  7. Jojanneke A Bastiaansen
  8. Daniel Benjamin
  9. Udo Boehm
  10. Rotem Botvinik-Nezer
  11. Laura F Bringmann
  12. Niko A Busch
  13. Emmanuel Caruyer
  14. Andrea M Cataldo
  15. Nelson Cowan
  16. Andrew Delios
  17. Noah N N van Dongen
  18. Chris Donkin
  19. Johnny B van Doorn
  20. Ann Dreber
  21. Gilles Dutilh
  22. Gary F Egan
  23. Morton Ann Gernsbacher
  24. Rink Hoekstra
  25. Sabine Hoffmann
  26. Felix Holzmeister
  27. Juergen Huber
  28. Magnus Johannesson
  29. Kai J Jonas
  30. Alexander T Kindel
  31. Michael Kirchler
  32. Yoram K Kunkels
  33. D Stephen Lindsay
  34. Jean-Francois Mangin
  35. Dora Matzke
  36. Marcus R Munafò
  37. Ben R Newell
  38. Brian A Nosek
  39. Russell A Poldrack
  40. Don van Ravenzwaaij
  41. Jörg Rieskamp
  42. Matthew J Salganik
  43. Alexandra Sarafoglou
  44. Tom Schonberg
  45. Martin Schweinsberg
  46. David Shanks
  47. Raphael Silberzahn
  48. Daniel J Simons
  49. Barbara A Spellman
  50. Samuel St-Jean
  51. Jeffrey J Starns
  52. Eric Luis Uhlmann
  53. Jelte Wicherts
  54. Eric-Jan Wagenmakers
(2021)
Consensus-based guidance for conducting and reporting multi-analyst studies
eLife 10:e72185.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72185

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