Abstract
<p>The impact of social media on adolescent mental health is a topic of heated debate. In contexts such as these, where evidence is contested and policy stakes are high, research transparency is especially important. Transparent research practices facilitate independent scrutiny and informed decision-making. The present study aimed to assess the adoption of transparent research practices in studies investigating the impact of social media on adolescent mental health. A corpus of 235 eligible empirical articles was identified via a collaborative review maintained by prominent researchers in the field. Articles were coded for eight transparency indicators. Results indicated that while open access, funding statements and conflict of interest statements were relatively common (≥74%), preregistration, data sharing, materials sharing, analysis script sharing, and use of reporting guidelines were rare (≤14%). This widespread lack of transparency undermines the credibility of evidence in this contentious policy-relevant domain.</p>