Handbook for Reproduction and Replication Studies

How to carry out reproductions and replications in the social, cognitive, and behavioral sciences

Authors

Affiliations

Lukas Röseler*

Münster Center for Open Science, University of Münster, Germany

Lukas Wallrich*

Birkbeck Business School, University of London, United Kingdom

Helena Hartmann

Department for Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), University Hospital Essen, Germany

Luisa Altegoer

University of Münster, Institute for Translational Psychiatry

Veronica Boyce

Department of Psychology, Stanford University, United States

Sarahanne M. Field

Department of pedagogy, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Janik Goltermann

University of Münster, Institute for Translational Psychiatry, Germany

Joachim Hüffmeier

TU Dortmund University, Germany

Charlotte R. Pennington

School of Psychology, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Merle-Marie Pittelkow

Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany

Priya Silverstein

Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra; Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education, Portugal

Don van Ravenzwaaij

Department of psychology, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Flavio Azevedo

University of Utrecht, Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Netherlands

Summary

The practice of repeatedly testing published results with the same data (reproduction) or new data (replication) is currently gaining traction in the social sciences, owing to multiple failures to reproduce and replicate published findings. Along with increased skepticism have come guidelines for the repeated testing of hypotheses from various disciplines and fields. This guide aims to enable researchers to conduct high-quality reproductions and replications across social science disciplines. First we summarize recent developments, then provide a comprehensive guide to carrying out reproductions and replications, and finally present an example for how guidance needs to be tailored for specific fields. Our guide covers the entire research process: choosing a target study, deciding between different types of reproductions and replications, planning and running the new study, analyzing the results, discussing outcomes in the light of potential differences, and publishing a report.

Keywords: replication, repetitive research, reproducibility, meta-science, meta-research, open science, open research, open scholarship

Last update: 2025-08-21