The Reproducibility Crisis

Over the past decade, science has been grappling with what is widely termed a reproducibility crisis.

在过去十年里，科学界一直在应对被广泛称为“可重复性危机”的问题。

When researchers attempted to replicate influential studies, a disconcerting proportion failed to yield the same results.

当研究人员试图重复那些有影响力的研究时，有相当令人不安的比例未能得出相同的结果。

Psychology and biomedical research have been particularly scrutinised in this respect.

在这方面，心理学和生物医学研究尤其受到严格审视。

Part of the problem lies in incentives that reward novel findings over rigorous verification.

问题的一部分在于，激励机制奖励新颖的发现，而不是严格的验证。

Journals have traditionally been reluctant to publish studies reporting inconclusive or negative outcomes.

期刊历来不愿发表报告结果不确定或为阴性的研究。

Small sample sizes and flexible statistical analyses further inflate the risk of spurious conclusions.

样本量小和统计分析方法灵活，进一步增加了得出虚假结论的风险。

In response, many scientists now register their hypotheses and methods before collecting any data.

为此，如今许多科学家在收集任何数据之前，就会先登记自己的假设和方法。

Sharing raw data openly allows others to scrutinise and, if necessary, challenge the analysis.

公开分享原始数据，使其他人能够审查这些分析，并在必要时提出质疑。

Far from undermining science, this self-correction arguably demonstrates its enduring strength.

这种自我纠错非但没有削弱科学，反而可以说体现了科学经久不衰的力量。