> would anyone really care to subscribe to, let alone publish in, the American Journal of Discarded Hypotheses, the Annals of Failed Experiments, or PLOS Dumpster
Actually, this seems like it would be really useful. When I'm about to do something expensive, I usually try to find information about whether it's likely to work and how it could go wrong.
A journal of failed experiments might prevent a lot of duplicated effort.
Plus, of course, making meta-studies a lot more reliable.
> A journal of failed experiments might prevent a lot of duplicated effort.
We need to consider first that duplicated effort is not necessarily wasted effort. It could be that one scientist who tried the experiment and found that it failed didn't account for certain externalities, or just did a poor job. Maybe trying it again is just what needs to happen for a discovery to be made.
The problem seems to be how do you choose what studies to publish? And how do you find anything in the mountain of papers? Or is there a separate journal of failures for each discipline?
Actually, this seems like it would be really useful. When I'm about to do something expensive, I usually try to find information about whether it's likely to work and how it could go wrong.
A journal of failed experiments might prevent a lot of duplicated effort.
Plus, of course, making meta-studies a lot more reliable.