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Failure-mode index

Search what already failed

A searchable index of real negative results, null findings, and replication failures from the published literature — so you can learn what didn't work before repeating it.

WASTE indexes published research — it does not host or republish full papers. Each entry is a metadata record (title, authors, DOI) compiled from open scholarly databases, with the abstract shown in full only where the paper is openly licensed (e.g. Creative Commons); otherwise a short excerpt is shown for reference under fair use. WASTE classifies each work by failure type; classifications are automated and approximate.

754 results in Failed Experiment Report · page 26 of 26

Failed Experiment ReportOpen accessMedicine

Is reading fiction associated with a higher mind-reading ability? Two conceptual replication studies in Japan

Yuka Takahashi, Toshiyuki Himichi, Ayumi Masuchi et al. · 2023 · PLoS ONE

Previous studies have revealed that reading fiction is associated with dispositional empathy and theory-of-mind abilities. Earlier studies established a correlation between fiction reading habits and the two measures of social cognition: trait fantasy (i.e., the tendency to transpose oneself into fictitious characters) and performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET; a test of the ability to identify others’ mental states based on their eyes). Recently, experimental studies have shown that brief exposure to fiction enhances RMET performance. Nevertheless, these studies have been

Failed Experiment ReportOpen accessPsychology

Resource scarcity priming and face perception: A preregistered conceptual replication of Study 1 of Rodeheffer et al. (2012) in Japan

Masataka Takebe, Kenta Tsumura, Ken'ichiro Nakashima · 2023 · Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology

Rodeheffer et al. (2012) showed that when people perceive resource scarcity, they are more likely to judge racially ambiguous people as out-group members. In their first experiment, 71 White participants viewed a slideshow depicting either resource scarcity or abundance; subsequently, they judged 20 biracial faces created by averaging a White and a Black face. We conducted this experiment's preregistered conceptual replication study in Japan. Specifically, after observing a slideshow depicting either resource scarcity or abundance, East Asian participants judged 20 biracial faces produced by a

View details →DOI: 10.1016/j.cresp.2023.100169
Failed Experiment ReportOpen accessEcology

Long‐Term Trends of Striped Bass Habitat Suitability Under a Temperature–Oxygen Squeeze in Lake Texoma, Oklahoma and Texas

Ally M. Whiteis, Shadi Fathollahifard, Isabela Suaza‐Sierra et al. · 2026 · Ecology and Evolution

ABSTRACT Warmer epilimnetic water temperatures and reduced dissolved oxygen levels in deeper water are common stressors for fishes in freshwater reservoirs throughout the summer. We investigated the effects of a temperature–oxygen squeeze—a phenomenon that squeezes fish into a narrow, livable zone—on striped bass from 1995 to 2020 in Lake Texoma. This reservoir is located on the border of Texas and Oklahoma, possesses one of the largest self‐sustaining populations of inland freshwater striped bass in the US, and is of high economic importance to the region. We used a trait‐based approach to qu

View details →DOI: 10.1002/ece3.73736
Failed Experiment ReportOpen accessMedicine

Method of Removal of Aquatic Pond Weed Variably Impacts Presence of Potentially Toxic Cyanobacteria.

Princiotta SD, Ostergaard E, Carroll E · 2026 · microPublication biology

Lakes often exist in two alternative stable states: clear waters dominated by submerged aquatic vegetation and turbid states with an abundance of phytoplankton. Management decisions must balance the value of primary producers with…

View details →DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002184