Publication bias occurs when the publication of research results depends not just on the quality of the research but also on the hypothesis tested, and the significance and direction of effects detected. The subject was first discussed in 1959 by statistician Theodore Sterling to refer to fields in which "successful" research is more likely to be published. As a result, ""the literature of such a field consists in substantial part of false conclusions resulting from errors of the first kind in statistical tests of significance"". In the worst case, false conclusions could canonize as being true if the publication rate of negative results is too low.