DFG Statement on the Replicability of Research Results
Contribution to the public debate on the “replication crisis” / “Replicability essentially touches on the quality of research and concerns all of science”
Contribution to the public debate on the “replication crisis” / “Replicability essentially touches on the quality of research and concerns all of science”
In April 2017, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) published a statement on the replicability of research results and thus took a differentiated position in the on-going public debate on the “replication crisis”. “The question of the replicability of research results essentially touches on the question of the quality of research and concerns all of science”, says DFG President Peter Strohschneider. “With this statement, the DFG, as a research funding agency and the self-governing organisation for science and research in Germany, meets its responsibility for taking a position in this debate.” The discussion was triggered by a series on the replicability of research results (in biomedicine) in the scientific journal Lancet in 2014.
In its statement, the DFG notes that the reproducibility of findings, or replication, is but one of many different methods to assure the quality of results in the empirical quantitative sciences. It also underlines that non-replicability does not always equate poor science and the reasons for non-replicability are also structural, such as the increasing competitive and time pressure in the research system. Finally, the DFG examines various relevant aspects of its activities as an organisation for research funding and scientific self-governance. It acknowledges its responsibility to participate in the discussion processes that have already been initiated in various disciplines.
The statement is available in German and English.
Further Information
To the DFG statement „Replicability of Research Results“:
Media contact:
- DFG Press and Public Relations,
phone +49 228 885-2109,
presse@dfg.d
Contact at the DFG Head Office:
- Dr. Katja Hartig,
DFG,
phone +49 228 885-2359,
Katja.Hartig@dfg.d