This ‘reproducibility crisis’ is putting a brake on further research and development, and goes against one of the fundamental principles of science that independent scientists can replicate the results.
In one test, Dr Tim Errington, an immunologist who runs the Reproducibility Project at the University of Virginia, tried to replicate the results from five major cancer trials, and yet despite spending two years on the studies, he was able to reproduce the results from just two of them. Two others were inconclusive and he was unable to replicate the results of the fifth trial.
“It’s worrying because replication is supposed to be a hallmark of scientific integrity,” Dr Errington said.
He’s not alone. More than 70 per cent of researchers have been unable to reproduce results from medical trials – and it’s because results are often made to look more impressive than they really are.
There’s a number of reasons for this. Most trials are funded by the drug company whose product is being tested, and they need a positive result, and there’s an impulse to get exciting results as that’s good for the publication that prints the study, and for the universities where the researchers work, and for the researchers themselves whose careers are enhanced with ‘breakthrough’ research
(Source: BBC, 22 February 2017: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39054778)
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