Are violent video game-aggression researchers biased?

• Researcher bias among violent video game-aggression researchers was examined.
• Studies that manipulated violent game play and measured aggression were examined.
• Meta-analysis was used to examine differences in effect size based on authorship.
• No evidence was found that researcher bias explained effect size differences.
• Researcher bias is unlikely to explain the causal violent game-aggression effect.

Several recent commentaries have suggested possible researcher bias on the part of scientists conducting studies that find evidence of a causal link between violent video game play and aggression. The present article argues that patterns of authorship, publication, and research findings within the experimental violent video game-aggression literature are inconsistent with the researcher bias hypothesis. It is concluded that the claim of a causal link between violent video game play and aggression is a defensible interpretation of the current experimental and meta-analytic literatures.