The Replication Crisis: How Should Science Change?

Both scientists and the general public are highly concerned about the explosion of replication failures of published scientific studies. This replication crisis affects a variety of disciplines, ranging from studies in social psychology to clinical trials in medical research. While the crisis raises multiple philosophical questions, the philosophy of replication is still an under-explored topic, with few exceptions occurring mostly in scientific venues. Our symposium addresses key philosophical questions about scientific replicability and makes constructive proposals for solving the crisis: conceptual analysis of the nature of replications (i.e., "what is a replication?"), adopting new measures for quantifying statistical evidence, and changing the culture and incentive structures of the scientific enterprise. The symposium consists of five presentations (20 minutes) and it contrasts the perspectives of scientists active in the replication crisis with philosophers of statistics and scientific method.