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  4. May 2017
  5. A Proposal to Organize and Promote Replications

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

A Proposal to Organize and Promote Replications

  • Lucas C. Coffman
  • Muriel Niederle
  • Alistair J. Wilson
American Economic Review
vol. 107, no. 5, May 2017
(pp. 41–45)
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Abstract

We make a two-pronged proposal to (i) strengthen the incentives for replication work and (ii) better organize and draw attention to the replications that are conducted. First we propose that top journals publish short "replication reports." These reports could summarize novel work replicating an existing high-impact paper, or they could highlight a replication result embedded in a wider-scope published paper. Second, we suggest incentivizing replications with the currency of our profession: citations. Enforcing a norm of citing replication work alongside the original would provide incentives for replications to both authors and journals.

Citation

Coffman, Lucas C., Muriel Niederle, and Alistair J. Wilson. 2017. "A Proposal to Organize and Promote Replications." American Economic Review, 107 (5): 41–45. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171122

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • A14 Sociology of Economics