An independent institute focused on improving the replicability of UK scientific research should be created as part of an overhaul of science structures and funding, a thinktank has recommended.
Calling for a new “National Institute for Scientific Replicability”, the Social Market Foundation says the proposed centre would tackle the “crisis of replicability” that has hit many scientific disciplines, with researchers following up high-profile findings unable to confirm initial results.
The lack of replicability may reflect growing pressure on researchers to publish “only positive results”, which has led to dubious methods being used to obtain eye-catching discoveries, says the report, published on 31 July.
“Because only positive results create the hype and the prestige required for academic career progression, researchers typically don’t publish null (negative) results, creating publication bias,” explains the report’s author Will Henshall, a researcher at the Harvard Kennedy School.
