An Overview of Scientific Reproducibility: Consideration of Relevant Issues for Behavior Science/Analysis
Pre-register, share data, and replicate directly to rescue behavior science from its repeatability crisis.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Laraway et al. (2019) wrote a story-style review. They looked at why many behavior-science studies fail to repeat.
The paper lists threats like tiny samples, secret data, and no plan posted ahead of time.
What they found
The field has a reproducibility crisis. Studies do not repeat when methods are hidden or sloppy.
The authors say pre-registration, open data, and direct replications are the fixes.
How this fits with other research
Lanovaz et al. (2019) extends this idea. They checked 501 ABAB graphs and found big, clear effects usually repeat even without a full reversal. This gives busy clinicians a short-cut while still honoring the call for replication.
LaPoint et al. (2025) acts as a successor. Their 2025 consensus turns the 2019 plea into a concrete rule: autism-intervention journals must now demand trial registration and protocols.
Delamater et al. (1986) is an early voice. Thirty-three years earlier they warned that poor subject descriptions block replication in autism work, foreshadowing the same crisis.
Why it matters
You can act today. Post your next study plan on OSF before you collect data. Share your data sheets and scripts in a public folder. When the effect looks huge right away, you might skip the reversal phase and still keep trust, thanks to Lanovaz et al. (2019). These small steps move the field from broken to repeatable.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
For over a decade, the failure to reproduce findings in several disciplines, including the biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences, have led some authors to claim that there is a so-called “replication (or reproducibility) crisis” in those disciplines. The current article examines: (a) various aspects of the reproducibility of scientific studies, including definitions of reproducibility; (b) published concerns about reproducibility in the scientific literature and public press; (c) variables involved in assessing the success of attempts to reproduce a study; (d) suggested factors responsible for reproducibility failures; (e) types of validity of experimental studies and threats to validity as they relate to reproducibility; and (f) evidence for threats to reproducibility in the behavior science/analysis literature. Suggestions for improving the reproducibility of studies in behavior science and analysis are described throughout.
Perspectives on Behavior Science, 2019 · doi:10.1007/s40614-019-00193-3