Reporting Standards for Psychological Network Analyses in Cross-sectional Data

Abstract

Statistical network models describing multivariate dependency structures in psychological data have gained increasing popularity. Such comparably novel statistical techniques require specific guidelines to make them accessible to the research community. In this literature, researchers have previously provided tutorials guiding the estimation of networks and their accuracy. However, there is currently little guidance in determining what parts of the analyses and results should be documented in a scientific report. A lack of such reporting standards may foster researcher degrees of freedom and could provide fertile ground for questionable reporting practices. Here, we introduce reporting standards for network analyses in cross-sectional data, along with a tutorial and two examples. The presented guidelines are aimed at researchers as well as the broader scientific community, such as reviewers and journal editors evaluating scientific work. We conclude by discussing how the network literature specifically can benefit from such guidelines for reporting and transparency.

Authors 9

1. Julian Burger

   University Medical Center Groningen · University of Groningen · University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Centre for Urban Mental Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

   University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

   University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, University Center Psychiatry (UCP) Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation (ICPE)

2. Adela‐Maria Isvoranu

   University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

3. Gabriela Lunansky

   University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

4. Jonas M B Haslbeck

   University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

5. Sacha Epskamp

   University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Centre for Urban Mental Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

   University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

6. Ria H. A. Hoekstra

   University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

7. Eiko I. Fried Aachen Department of Clinical Psychology

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University, Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden, the Netherlands

8. Denny Borsboom

   University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

9. Tessa F. Blanken

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Sleep and Cognition, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

   University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands