Confronting the Gatekeepers of Experimental Political Science

Political science has witnessed a veritable explosion in the use of experiments. In response, authors, reviewers, and journal editors have sought to devise best practices for experimental work, promoting (i) the use of population-weighted samples over convenience samples, (ii) the inclusion of multiple experiments per study, and (iii) pre-registration (solely for experimental studies). We argue that, however well-intentioned, these efforts increase the cost of exper- imental research. Together, they represent a new set of de facto gate keeping mechanisms. These norms exacerbate institutional inequalities and elitism in the discipline. We highlight the problems of these norms and provide a set of recommendations.