Reproducibility of Research: Issues and Proposed Remedies

Reproducibility has been one of the major tools science has used to help establish the validity and importance of scientific findings since Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society was established in 1665 (1). Since that time the process of discovery has evolved to make use of new technologies and methods in a changing regulatory and social environment. The Sackler Colloquium “Reproducibility of Research: Issues and Proposed Remedies,” which took place on March 8–10, 2017, convened a wide range of research community stakeholders to address our understanding of transparency and reproducibility in the modern research context with two related questions: what does reproducibility mean in different research contexts, and what remedies increase reproducibility and transparency? We approach the topic of reproducibility with sensitivity to its complexity, spanning a wide range of issues from data collection and reporting to communication of scientific findings by scientists and nonscientists alike. The Colloquium was organized by David Allison, Richard Shiffrin, Victoria Stodden, and Stephen Fienberg. Before the Colloquium our esteemed and respected friend and colleague, Stephen Fienberg, unfortunately died and could not witness the outcome of his vision. A PNAS retrospective by Larry Wasserman describes Stephen’s extraordinary career (2). The 12 articles in this special issue fall into three categories that shaped the Colloquium. The first … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: shiffrin{at}indiana.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1