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In a groundbreaking journal article entitled "" published in 2005, John Ioannidis from the Stanford University ignited a crucial discussion on the credibility of scientific research. It was revealed that the pervasive issue of false positives in academic literature is due to various factors in the research ecosystem, including the pressure to publish by researchers, and the pressure to publish 鈥榠mpactful鈥� results. This state of affairs has led to a phenomenon, termed "The Replication Crisis," highlighting the urgency for the scientific community to adopt more robust practices and recognise the role of replication studies. Three talented researchers at the UC Business School, Professors Bob Reed and Tom Coupe, and Dr Sanghyun Hong, delve into the heart of this issue.

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Motivation behind the research

Bob's interest in this subject began 15 years ago when he attempted to reproduce the findings of previous studies but yielded inconsistent results. This sparked a research journey for him that still continues to this day. Bob鈥檚 multifaceted research approach spans replication studies (replications of other people鈥檚 work to determine if it is reliable), statistical meta-analyses (study of statistical methods for synthesizing the results from many studies), and advocacy for replication research dissemination. Through initiatives like editing the Journal of Comments and Replications in Economics (where provides a place for researchers to publish replications) and founding a website called 鈥溾�� (where provides a searchable database of replications in economics), Bob is committed to foster a culture of transparency and reliability in academic research. Apart from those initiatives, he leads a renowned research cluster at UC called 鈥�UCMeta鈥� together with Tom and Sanghyun, where they collectively explore various topics within 鈥渕eta-science鈥� with a network of enthusiastic researchers.

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Anticipated impacts

The team is championing a transformative shift in academic research, paving the way for a more transparent and robust scientific landscape. In the short term, the team seeks to encourage economists and scientific journals to publish replication studies despite challenges such as diminished attention and potential backlash. By advocating for improved meta-analytic methodologies, the team seeks to enhance the reliability of research synthesis, enabling clearer insights amidst the maze of published empirical studies.

Looking ahead, the long-term goal for the team is to address "The Replication Crisis" through innovative solutions. Collaboration has been developed with scholars at the University of Texas at Austin (US), the St. Louis Federal Reserve (US), the Centre for Open Science (US), ZBW 鈥� Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (Germany), the University of Essex (UK), and MetaMelb Research Initiative (Australia). The team continues to explore effective strategies to address this complex issue.

With unwavering commitment and inventive approaches, the team seamlessly integrates their research discoveries into Economics undergraduate courses at the UC Business School, including Introduction to Econometrics (ECON213) and Econometrics (ECON324). By imparting knowledge on the significance of replication studies and fostering a culture of critical evaluation of research findings, the team strives to empower students to contribute to enhancing research integrity and reliability in their academic and professional endeavours.听

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Next steps

An exciting new initiative that the team is currently working on is the development of an automatic alert system to notify authors of 鈥渨orking papers鈥� (unpublished research that is seeking to be published in a journal) about relevant replication studies of the original papers that they have cited. By increasing awareness and citation rates of replication studies, this endeavour seeks to incentivise further replication efforts and encourage journals to publish them, ultimately fostering a culture of scientific rigor.

For more information about this research, please contact Bob.

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Related media

- The Replication Network

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Outputs

Journal articles

Hong, S., & Reed, W.R. (2024). Meta鈥恆nalysis and partial correlation coefficients: A matter of weights.听Research Synthesis Methods,听15(2), 303-312.

Coup茅, T., Reed, W.R., & Zimmermann, C. (2023). Getting seen: Results from an online experiment to draw more attention to replications.听Research Policy,听52(8), 104841.

Hong, S., & Reed, W.R. (2021). Using Monte Carlo experiments to select meta鈥恆nalytic estimators. Research Synthesis Methods, 12(2), 192-215.

Havr谩nek, T., Stanley, T.D., Doucouliagos, H., Bom, P., Geyer鈥怟lingeberg, J., Iwasaki, I., Reed, W.R., Rost, K.,& van Aert, R.C.M. (2020). Reporting guidelines for meta鈥恆nalysis in economics.听Journal of Economic Surveys,听34(3), 469-475.

Xue, X., Reed, W.R., & Menclova, A. (2020). Social capital and health: A meta-analysis. Journal of Health Economics, 72, 102317.

Duvendack, M., Palmer-Jones, R., & Reed, W.R. (2017). What is meant by 鈥渞eplication鈥� and why does it encounter resistance in economics?.听American Economic Review,听107(5), 46-51.

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