Responding to the growing issue of research reproducibility

Abstract

An increasing number of studies, surveys, and editorials highlight experimental and computational reproducibility and replication issues that appear to pervade most areas of modern science. This perspective examines some of the multiple and complex causes of what has been called a “reproducibility crisis,” which can impact materials, interface/(bio)interphase, and vacuum sciences. Reproducibility issues are not new to science, but they are now appearing in new forms requiring innovative solutions. Drivers include the increasingly multidiscipline, multimethod nature of much advanced science, increased complexity of the problems and systems being addressed, and the large amounts and multiple types of experimental and computational data being collected and analyzed in many studies. Sustained efforts are needed to address the causes of reproducibility problems that can hinder the rate of scientific progress and lower public and political regard for science. The initial efforts of the American Vacuum Society to raise awareness of a new generation of reproducibility challenges and provide tools to help address them serve as examples of mitigating actions that can be undertaken.