Stephen Downes

This article revisits the replication crisis in the social sciences. Disciplines like education, economics and demographics come out the best in a bad lot. "It is difficult to convey just how low the standards are," writes Alvaro de Menard. "The marginal researcher is a hack and the marginal paper should not exist. There's a general lack of seriousness hanging over everything.... Pusillanimous reports repeat tired clichés about "training", "transparency", and a "culture of openness" while downplaying the scale of the problem and ignoring the incentives. No serious actions have followed from their recommendations."