Replication attempts are important for the advancement of science even when they fail

Abstract

Picture this: a new PhD candidate, interested in human neurophysiology, is starting his career in science (Woolston, 2017). They spend the first few months familiarizing with the literature on a specific topic, let’s say experimental models of central sensitization. At the same time, they attend a couple of courses; if they are lucky, they found some about research methodology, experimental design, or statistics right at the start of their PhD. By this time, they are usually expected to produce a research plan that generally spans 3 or 4 years and comprises a number of prospective studies to be carried out in the laboratory or the clinic to test their carefully crafted hypotheses and advance the current knowledge on the topic. A few more months might go by setting up the first experimental setup, running pilots and recruiting volunteers. Once data collection is finished, it is ready to be analyzed...