Jul 11, 2016 07:59 PM
https://www.newscientist.com/article/209...d-science/
EXCERPT: Call it a crisis. Researchers are finding it harder to replicate each other’s findings, while the rate of retractions of published studies is rapidly rising. But why is this happening? It’s difficult to determine to what extent the retraction trend is caused by more studies reporting false findings, and how much is down to the fact false findings are now more likely to be identified. Some speculate that the internet has made it far easier for scientists to scrutinise each other’s work, and plagiarism can now be detected automatically.
However, new research supports the idea that, in fact, we are encouraging poor scientific practices by accident. Paul Smaldino and Richard McElreath at the University of California Davis used an evolutionary theory-based computational model to analyse the problem of bad science. They found that “the most powerful incentives in contemporary science actively encourage, reward and propagate poor research methods and abuse of statistical procedures”. In short, it’s natural selection for shoddy science....
EXCERPT: Call it a crisis. Researchers are finding it harder to replicate each other’s findings, while the rate of retractions of published studies is rapidly rising. But why is this happening? It’s difficult to determine to what extent the retraction trend is caused by more studies reporting false findings, and how much is down to the fact false findings are now more likely to be identified. Some speculate that the internet has made it far easier for scientists to scrutinise each other’s work, and plagiarism can now be detected automatically.
However, new research supports the idea that, in fact, we are encouraging poor scientific practices by accident. Paul Smaldino and Richard McElreath at the University of California Davis used an evolutionary theory-based computational model to analyse the problem of bad science. They found that “the most powerful incentives in contemporary science actively encourage, reward and propagate poor research methods and abuse of statistical procedures”. In short, it’s natural selection for shoddy science....
