Crowdsourced Database for Replication Studies Simplifies Search

Crowdsourced Database for Replication Studies Simplifies Search

Replicating research findings is essential for the advancement of science, yet it remains a challenging task due to various barriers. Funding for replication studies can be scarce, and finding journals willing to publish them is often difficult. Moreover, locating these replication papers can be a daunting task as they are rarely linked to the original studies they seek to replicate. In an effort to address these challenges, a new database has been developed to host replication studies from the social sciences, making them more traceable and discoverable.

The database is part of the Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training (FORTT), a community-driven initiative aimed at promoting open science and reproducibility among researchers. This initiative joins other efforts in the scientific community to improve the accessibility of replication work, such as the Institute for Replication, which hosts a database listing studies published in selected economics and politics journals available for replication.

The team behind the FORTT database hopes to bring more attention to replication studies, emphasizing their significance in the scientific process. The database, accessible through the web application Shiny, will soon be available on the FORTT website, making it easier for researchers to access and contribute to replication studies across various disciplines.

Lukas Röseler, a metascience researcher and director of the University of Münster’s Center for Open Science in Germany, discussed the creation and goals of the database in a recent interview. According to Röseler, the primary objective of the database is to facilitate the publication of replication attempts, regardless of their outcomes. By making replication studies more visible and trackable, researchers can easily build upon previous work and identify areas where further replication is needed.

The database currently contains over 3,300 entries, representing replication findings from nearly 1,100 original studies. These entries include multiple findings within a single study, with replication attempts addressing various aspects of the original research. The database is continually updated by a team of volunteers who collect and log replication studies, contributing to the growing repository of replication data available to researchers.

Efforts are underway to automate the data collection process, with plans to create a machine-readable manuscript template that can automatically input relevant information into the database. This automation will streamline the process of adding new studies and ensure that the database remains up-to-date and comprehensive.

One of the key features of the database is the replication tracker, which allows users to see the percentage of studies that successfully replicated the original findings and those that failed to do so. In the future, users will have the ability to customize the criteria by which replication success is assessed, providing a more nuanced understanding of the replication process and its outcomes.

In addition to the database, the FORTT initiative is planning to launch a peer-reviewed, open-access journal to publish replication studies from various disciplines. This journal will serve as a platform for researchers to share their replication efforts and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on replication in science.

Overall, the development of the crowdsourced database for replication studies represents a significant step forward in promoting open science and reproducibility in research. By making replication studies more accessible and transparent, researchers can enhance the credibility and reliability of scientific findings, ultimately advancing the progress of science as a whole.