Evidence-appraisal glossary
Outcome Switching
Quietly changing which outcomes a trial reports compared with what was planned, for example promoting a secondary outcome to primary because it looked better. It inflates the chance that a highlighted result is a false positive.
Also called: outcome reporting bias.
Comparing a published paper against its registered protocol often reveals outcomes that were added, dropped, or reordered without explanation. Because researchers can pick the most flattering result after seeing the data, switching quietly breaks the statistical guarantees that made the trial trustworthy. Pre-registration and reporting checklists exist largely to make this behavior visible to readers.
This is a plain-language methodology definition for reading research. It is general education, not medical advice.