"Follow The Science": How the Replication Crisis has Made Science a Dubious Prospect

Randall D. Ordovich Clarkson, M.D.

July 11, 2022

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It is very important as academics to be vigilant and critical of resources, even when coming from peer-reviewed literature. The Replication Crisis has been an ongoing controversy in the world of academia affecting disciplines such as psychology, medicine, and economics, to name a few. This crisis had inspired a crowdsourced group of researchers to found the Reproducibility Project which attempted to reproduce 100 studies, the results of which were published in 2015.

According to the study, “only 39 of the 100 replication attempts were successful” (Baker, 2015). Academic dishonesty is also a significant problem to consider when citing sources. A meta-analysis found that, “about 2% of scientists admitted to have fabricated, falsified or modified data or results at least once,” and that, “fabrication, falsification and modification had been observed, on average, by over 14% of respondents, and other questionable practices by up to 72%” (Fanelli, D. 2009). Another study surveyed 1,576 scientists who were asked if previously published studies were reproducible and, “Most agree that there's a 'crisis' and over 70% said they'd tried and failed to reproduce another group's experiments” (Nature Video, 2016).

If this type of malfeasance can be found in peer-reviewed academic literature, of which we presume follow a rigorous scientific method, then one must exercise all the more precaution when referencing popular or secondary sources.

If this type of malfeasance can be found in peer-reviewed academic literature, of which we presume follow a rigorous scientific method, then one must exercise all the more precaution when referencing popular or secondary sources. Bias is all the more prevalent in “lay literature” insofar as most popular publications have hidden agendas or other conflicts of interest. Hence, if at all possible, empirical evidence from academic resources should be exclusively used, and, considering the Replication Crisis, even that should be done with a grain of salt.

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REFERENCES

Baker, M. (2015, August 27). Over half of psychology studies fail reproducibility test. Retrieved May 17, 2020, from https://www.nature.com/news/over-half-of-psychology-studies-fail-reproducibility-test-1.18248

Fanelli, D. (2009). How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data. PLoS ONE, 4(5), e5738. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005738

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Nature Video. (2016, May 28). Is There a Reproducibility Crisis in Science? Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/is-there-a-reproducibility-crisis-in-science/

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