What is it about?
Scientists at the biotech company Amgen, working with academic researchers who had published their findings in highly prestigious scientific journals, found that approximately 90% of those researchers were unable to reproduce their findings when experiments were repeated by the same researchers when 'blinded' to the experimental arms.
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Why is it important?
Science advances based on robust, reproducible findings that provide the foundation upon which others can build. Unfortunately the 'perverse incentives' that operate today drive researchers to be first, and to strive for publications in the so called "top-tier" journals, rather than providing solid, reproducible findings that can be repeated and built upon by others.
Perspectives
Science is the greatest creation of humankind. It is self-correcting, and unlike many other human initiatives, demands skepticism and critique. Science has driven enormous societal benefits.The intense competition for research funding and the lack of secure, guaranteed research funding that allows a long-term commitment to a project, drive behaviours that are short-term rather than creating a foundation upon which others can build.
Dr C.Glenn Begley
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Raise standards for preclinical cancer research, Nature, March 2012, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1038/483531a.
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