Lies, make-ups, and marketing in Psychology

Abstract

The Psychology as a science has a critical situation due to the accumulation of a series of lies, make-ups and marketing of psychological knowledge. The review of the journal Science about the lack or replication of a majority of psychological studies was a red light about the kind of publication that Psychology is producing. The pressure to publish over the authors, leads us to look for shortcuts that include the falsification of research, cosmetics in the data,
or the exaggeration in conclusions. Similarly, the need for greater diffusion of psychological knowledge, especially on therapies and pseudo-therapies, leads to marketing and sale practices; we sold anything new that is attractive, although
it does not have empirical endorsement. The time has come to stop and reflect through where we want to run the Psychology as scientific matter. This text offers some alternatives to reduce the possibility of lies and make-ups in research. Those could be carried out by university authorities and teachers, by psychological journals and professional societies, and especially, by the researchers themselves, promoting the open-access to research, pre-registration, and the social networks for researchers.