Hidden universe of uncertainty

The Department of Social Sciences contributed to a large-scale replication study that aimed to understand the role of decisions scientists make during the research process. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study highlights the importance of Open Science and collaboration among scientists. During the COVID 19 pandemic, a certain crisis of credibility in science manifested itself. It has also become apparent that both the public and experts have difficulty dealing with scientific uncertainty. Part of this mix is the -replication crisis-: in several scientific fields, studies repeatedly failed to replicate a significant proportion of previously published results . Even if this can be explained by errors, publication pressure and bias or even questionable research practices, the failure of replications undermines the role of science as a reliable producer of knowledge. A study led by Nate Breznau and colleagues investigated the role of decisions scientists make during the research process.