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Investigating the reproducibility of the social and behavioural sciences
Olivia Miske1, Anna Lou Abatayo2, Mason Daley1
1Center for Open Science Charlottesville, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Nature
|April 1, 2026
Summary
Reproducibility in social sciences is limited, with over half of analyzed papers lacking precise reproducibility. Higher reproducibility rates were found in political science, economics, and for recent papers requiring data sharing.
Area of Science:
- Social and behavioral sciences research.
Background:
- Reproducibility, achieving the same results with the same data and analysis, is crucial for scientific integrity.
- Assessing reproducibility is vital for the trustworthiness of knowledge production.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reproducibility of published research in social and behavioral sciences.
- To identify factors influencing research reproducibility.
Main Methods:
- A stratified random sample of 600 papers from 62 journals (2009-2018) was analyzed.
- Data availability was checked, and source data was obtained for 38 additional papers.
- 143 datasets were assessed for precise and approximate reproducibility.
Main Results:
- Only 24.0% of papers made data available for reproducibility checks.
- 53.6% of assessed papers were precisely reproducible, and 73.5% were approximately reproducible.
- Higher reproducibility was observed in political science and economics, for recent papers, and those from journals requiring data sharing.
Conclusions:
- A significant portion of social science research lacks precise reproducibility.
- Implementing measures to verify research reproducibility is essential.
- Data sharing policies and specific fields like political science and economics show promise for improving reproducibility.
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