The confirmation bias in research
This article deals with the issue of confirmation bias in research. In the first part, we argue that the criterion of falsifiability is the best remedy against this heuristic. Then, we touch upon four aspects of the scientific culture that may exacerbate confirmation bias in research: the Publish or Perish phenomenon, the promotion of positive results in scientific journals, the rarity of repeatable studies, a condition nevertheless essential to the scientific method, and a few aspects of the qualitative research. In the last part of the text, we illustrate the nature of confirmation bias in research by providing four examples.