Anti-cheating Arms Race Hurts Research

As journals add preregistration, open code, and multiple‑testing rules to deter p‑hacking, bad actors adapt while honest researchers face rising compliance costs. The author calls this the 'cycle of tragedy': each patch shrinks one exploit but makes genuine inquiry slower, less satisfying, and harder for newcomers. He also argues that in an LLM era, long introductions and expansive discussion sections should be deemphasized because reviewers can summon context on demand. — If compliance‑first metascience is reducing research productivity and diversity, reform should target incentives and publication design rather than piling on process rules.