Their propensity to mislead means that low-powered studies actively subtract from our knowledge: it would often have been better never to have done them in the first place. Scientists who knowingly run low-powered research, and the reviewers and editors who wave through tiny studies for publication, are introducing a subtle poison into the scientific literature, weakening the evidence that it needs to progress. And
This is only true in combination with publication bias. If all studies were published each would add to the total metanalysis evidence base.
