CV padding vs. fruitless research

It sucks that the projects didn't work, but that's research sometimes.

However, the question of whether or not to include it is something else entirely. Do you want the programs to know about them? Do you think they make your application better? If so, add them.

I've had a couple ortho related projects that didn't get published. One I did for a summer and wasn't all that exciting, so I left it off. The other I worked on for a year and was a pretty interesting topic even if it didn't work, so I included a small blurb on it under research experiences.

The ERAS has two separate categories for this: One is for research, lsited under experiences, while the second is for publications as a separate section of the application. If you did the research, then list it as a work or volunteer experience, regardless of whether the results were published.