Heesen, Remco (2018) Why the Reward Structure of Science Makes Reproducibility Problems Inevitable. The Journal of Philosophy, 115 (12). pp. 661-674. ISSN 0022-362X

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Abstract

Recent philosophical work has praised the reward structure of science, while recent empirical work has shown that many scientific results may not be reproducible. I argue that the reward structure of science incentivizes scientists to focus on speed and impact at the expense of the reproducibility of their work, thus contributing to the so-called reproducibility crisis. I use a rational choice model to identify a set of sufficient conditions for this problem to arise, and I argue that these conditions plausibly apply to a wide range of research situations. Currently proposed solutions will not fully address this problem. Philosophical commentators should temper their optimism about the reward structure of science.

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Heesen, Remco r.heesen@lse.ac.uk 0000-0003-3823-944X
Additional Information:	A preprint is available from my website http://remcoheesen.eu
Keywords:	Philosophy of science; Social epistemology; Formal epistemology; Reproducibility; Pressure to publish; Credit economy
Subjects:	General Issues > Confirmation/Induction General Issues > Decision Theory Specific Sciences > Medicine Specific Sciences > Psychology General Issues > Science and Policy
Depositing User:	Remco Heesen
Date Deposited:	10 Jan 2019 16:29
Last Modified:	09 Aug 2023 14:13
Item ID:	15575
Journal or Publication Title:	The Journal of Philosophy
Publisher:	The Journal of Philosophy, Inc
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/jphil20181151239
DOI or Unique Handle:	10.5840/jphil20181151239
Subjects:	General Issues > Confirmation/Induction General Issues > Decision Theory Specific Sciences > Medicine Specific Sciences > Psychology General Issues > Science and Policy
Date:	December 2018
Page Range:	pp. 661-674
Volume:	115
Number:	12
ISSN:	0022-362X
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/15575

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