We Should Do More Direct Replications in Science

Stuart Buck, in his contribution to this Reinforcing Reproducibility and Replicability column, ponders the value of direct replications and posits that more should be done, by funders, to support such direct replications.He argues that the value lies in part in letting such replication attempts tease out and test the documented steps, procedures, and mechanisms, removing the tacit or implicit knowledge that sometimes is present.Call this an audit, a verification, a test.In earlier contributions to this column, Butler (2023), Peer (2024), and Pérignon (2024) have shown that there is demand for such audits by researchers and institutions.Buck points out the role that funders have in supporting such efforts, because they, too, should care, if they want to achieve their goals of advancing science.