Failing to replicate predicts citation declines in psychology

Cory J. Clark, Paul Connor, Calvin Isch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

With a sample of 228 psychology papers that failed to replicate, we tested whether the trajectory of citation patterns changes following the publication of a failure to replicate. Across models, we found consistent evidence that failing to replicate predicted lower future citations and that the size of this reduction increased over time. In a 14-y postpublication period, we estimated that the publication of a failed replication was associated with an average citation decline of 14% for original papers. These findings suggest that the publication of failed replications may contribute to a self-correcting science by decreasing scholars’ reliance on unreplicable original findings.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2304862120
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume120
Issue number29
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Keywords

  • citations
  • failed replication
  • metascience
  • psychology
  • scientific impact

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