When You Hit a Fork in the Road, Take It: What the Latest Controversies and Data Tell Us About Our Field, Open Science, and the Way Forward

Abstract

The latest controversies in our field highlight the chasm between the pursuit of rigorous, replicable, science and disciplinary incentives that reward the publication of novel findings, the use of questionable research strategies, and a preference for ideologically uniform narratives. To advance our discipline, I argue we should embrace the open science movement and leverage the empirical work that highlights the limits of social science generally, and criminology specifically. Embracing the open science movement, however, is more than changing the mechanics of our science. It will also require a cultural change -- one that prioritizes the pursuit of truth over all else.