Special Issue: Improving the Implementation of Quantitative Methods in Addiction Research

Addictive Behaviors is now accepting submissions for a special issue, Improving the Implementation of Quantitative Methods in Addiction Research. There is an increasing focus on developing more transparent and robust approaches to conducting science, including pre-registration of hypotheses, open sharing of protocols, sharing of analytic syntax and data, and collaborative efforts to replicate prior research. Considerable evidence suggests that best-practice recommendations for the application of quantitative methods are rarely followed in applied research. Yet there have been few efforts to understand or improve this research-to-practice gap for quantitative methods.

This proposed series is an attempt to improve the research-to-practice gap in quantitative methods for addictions research. In general, submissions should present research focused on how to improve the practice of commonly used statistical models in applied research on addictions.

Examples of potential topics include:

  • Reviews of analytic, data collection, or visualization methods, or reporting practices, highlighting common problems and providing “best practice” solutions.
  • Research on factors that influence the implementation of empirically supported methodological practices in addictions research.
  • Presentation of data analytic tools, apps, or functions that improve the analysis or presentation of data in the addiction field.
  • Methodological or statistical improvements for common statistical models, with instructions for use and demonstration of substantive utility.
  • Illustration of optimal methods for testing statistical models (e.g., “fidelity checklists” for data analysis, common problems encountered when applying a specific analytic model and potential solutions)
  • Illustration of different analytic approaches to similar questions (i.e. latent growth curve vs. growth mixture model vs. latent difference score models) and discussion of substantive/methodological costs and benefits of each.

Original research submissions, methodological papers, and review papers will be considered. When applicable, successful papers will be accompanied by clear guidelines and/or tools (such as checklists, spreadsheets, online or downloadable applications, or example code) so the recommendations may be easily implemented by applied researchers.

The deadline for manuscript submission is March 31, 2018 for consideration for inclusion in this special issue. All submissions must adhere to journal guidelines and will undergo peer review. Accepted papers will be published online individually prior to print publication. In order to be considered for this special issue, authors must select “SI: Implementation of Methods” from the “Choose Type of Article” drop down menu. Prior to submitting a manuscript, the authors are encouraged to submit a brief letter of intent to the Guest Editors, Kevin King (kingkm@uw.edu) and Kristina Jackson (kristina_jackson@brown.edu) to ensure that their topic fits within the scope of this special issue.