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Journal of Economic Literature Vol. 56 No. 3 2018

Transparency, Reproducibility, and the Credibility of Economics Research

Garret Christensen1; Edward Miguel2

1 University of California, Berkeley · 2 University of California, Berkeley and NBER

open access

Abstract

There is growing interest in enhancing research transparency and reproducibility in economics and other scientific fields. We survey existing work on these topics within economics and discuss the evidence suggesting that publication bias, inability to replicate, and specification searching remain widespread in the discipline. We next discuss recent progress in this area, including through improved research design, study registration and pre-analysis plans, disclosure standards, and open sharing of data and materials, drawing on experiences in both economics and other social sciences. We discuss areas where consensus is emerging on new practices, as well as approaches that remain controversial, and speculate about the most effective ways to make economics research more credible in the future.

DOI
10.1257/jel.20171350
Volume
56
Issue
3
Pages
920-980
Language
en
Sources
crossref openalex

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