How Journal Editors View Replication Research

Abstract Abstract The usefulness of replication research is a widely debated topic in the social sciences. Although most scholars recognize the need for a replication tradition in their respective disciplines, studies have documented a paucity of replication research in the advertising/consumer behavior/marketing literature. The authors investigate the prevalence of replication research by soliciting journal editors' perceptions of their disciplines' attitudes toward such work. Two studies were conducted questioning editors first in the natural and social sciences and, later, editors in advertising, communications, and marketing journals. Findings included that natural science editors have generally endorsed replication as a necessary part of research, while social science editors have been less than enthusiastic about its adoption. Marketing communications and advertising editors responded consistently with that of most other social science editors.