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Introduction published In: Questionable Research Practices in Applied Linguistics
Edited by Luke Plonsky
[Journal of Second Language Studies 8:2] 2025
► pp. 183–191

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Introduction

Expanding the scope of questionable research practices in applied linguistics

 | Northern Arizona University, USA
 | Indiana State University, USA
 | University of South Florida, USA
 | Northern Arizona University, USA
 | Uppsala University, Sweden
Published online: 14 November 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jsls.00060.plo
Abstract
Questionable research practices (QRPs) comprise a gray area of researcher decisions that may be reasonable in some situations but dubious in others. Recent works in this area have sought to catalog and estimate the presence of QRPs in applied linguistics (e.g., Isbell, D., Brown, D., Chen, M., Derrick, D., Ghanem, R., Gutiérrez Arvizu, M. N., Schnur, E., Zhang, M., & Plonsky, L. (2022). Misconduct and questionable research practices: The ethics of quantitative data handling and reporting in applied linguistics. Modern Language Journal, 1061, 172–195. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Larsson, T., Plonsky, L., Sterling, S., Kytö, M., Yaw, K., Wood, M. (2023). On the frequency, prevalence, and perceived severity of Questionable Research Practices. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 21, 100064. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Building on those studies, we reintroduce the notion of QRPs in this introductory article to the present special issue, linking recent work in this area to related movements toward research ethics, open science, and methodological reform. We then outline the remainder of the special issue that follows. In doing so we highlight the ways in which these papers — both individually and in the aggregate — expand and advance the conceptual and methodological scope of research on QRPs. We conclude by reflecting on and considering next steps for this vibrant research agenda.
Article outline
  • Questionable research practices in applied linguistics
  • The present issue
  • Conclusions and ways forward
  • References
References (28)
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