Abstract
Problematisation: The credibility and transparency of industrial and organisational psychological (IOP) research within South Africa was recently challenged by Efendic and Van Zyl (2019). The authors briefly showed inconsistencies in statistical results reported by authors of the South African Journal of Industrial Psychology (SAJIP), that various studies were insufficiently powered, that best-practice guidelines for the reporting of results were mostly only partially followed and that no transparency exists with regard to the research process. They demonstrated that authors of the SAJIP may knowingly or unknowingly be engaging in questionable research practices, which directly affects the credibility of both the discipline and the journal. Furthermore, they suggested practical guidelines for both authors and the SAJIP on how this could be managed. Implications: Based on these suggestions, the authors invited prominent members of the IOP scientific community to provide scholarly commentary on their paper in order to aid in the development of ‘a clear strategy on how [the confidence crisis in IOP] could be managed, what the role of SAJIP is in this process and how SAJIP and its contributors could proactively engage to address these issues'. Seven members of the editorial board and two international scholars provided commentaries in an attempt to further the debate about the nature, causes, consequences and management of the credibility crisis within the South African context. Purpose: The purpose of this final rebuttal article was to summarise and critically reflect on the commentaries of the nine articles to advance the debate on the confidence crisis within the South African IOP discipline. Recommendations: All SAJIP's stakeholders (authors, editors, reviewers, the publication house, universities and the journal) can play an active role in enhancing the credibility of the discipline. It is suggested that SAJIP should develop a clear and structured strategy to promote credible, transparent and ethical research practices within South Africa.
Highlights
For 45 years, the South African Journal of Industrial Psychology (SAJIP) has been at the vanguard of the struggle to advance industrial and organisational psychology (IOP) as a discipline within South Africa (Coetzee & Van Zyl, 2014, 2013; Raubenheimer, 1994)
Crous (2019) fully supports and values the recommendations of Efendic and Van Zyl (2019), he argues that the issues underlying the confidence crisis pertain less to the systemic issues mentioned in the article, but rather arise from the world view from which researchers and practitioners operate
The original paper by Efendic and Van Zyl (2019) highlighted the need to enhance the credibility and transparency of research published in SAJIP
Summary
For 45 years, the South African Journal of Industrial Psychology (SAJIP) has been at the vanguard of the struggle to advance industrial and organisational psychology (IOP) as a discipline within South Africa (Coetzee & Van Zyl, 2014, 2013; Raubenheimer, 1994). Efendic and Van Zyl (2019) briefly demonstrated that these issues are apparent within SAJIP, highlighting inconsistencies in statistical results reported by authors, that various studies were insufficiently powered, that best-practice guidelines for the reporting of results were mostly only partially followed and that no transparency exists with regard to the research process In effect, they highlighted that SAJIP’s authorship knowingly or unknowingly engages in what Nosek et al (2015:1422) call ‘questionable research practices’, and that the journal is not immune to the issues contributing to the confidence crisis in our discipline. Efendic and Van Zyl (2019) argued that both authors and the journal play an important role in enhancing the credibility of the IOP discipline They provided detailed descriptions of approaches, research practices and techniques authors could employ to enhance the transparency and quality of their manuscripts. The replicability crisis as chance for psychological research and SAJIP
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