Guidance on how to expand research replication efforts: Editorial

Replication efforts are sorely needed in the social sciences, argue Abel Brodeur (University of Ottawa), Anna Dreber (Stokholm School of Economics), Fernando Hoces de la Guardia (Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences), and Edward Miguel (UC Berkeley) in an article. The authors explain that replicating the results of select research papers can validate the findings and/or identify any possible errors that should be corrected. To expand replication efforts, the writers propose taking steps such as forming meaningful partnerships to scale up replication activities, using a mediator to protect the academics acting as replicators, and assigning personal and professional value to replication. The authors conclude that funders and journals must also “play their part” and prioritize the replication of research.