Treatment of Effect Indices in Journal Editorial Policies: An Editor's Perspective.

This paper reviews the education and experiences that led one journal editor to support the reporting and interpretation of magnitude-of-effect (ME) indices in substantive research. The paper reviews the controversies associated with the use of ME indices as result interpretation aids and describes the influences of these controversies on journal editorial policies. The role of the editor in ensuring good scientific reporting practices is discussed, and the movements in publication manuals and editorial policies toward routine reporting and interpretation of ME indices are highlighted. Strengths and cautions associated with the routine use of ME indices are reviewed. An appendix lists journals that have adopted ME index requirements. (Contains 46 references.) (Author/SLD)