Sharing knowledge is what drives scientific progress — each new advance or innovation in biomedical research builds on previous observations. However, for experimental findings to be broadly accepted as credible by the scientific community, they must be verified by other researchers. An essential step is for researchers to report their findings in a manner that is understandable to others in the scientific community and provide sufficient information for others to validate the original results and build on them. In recent years, concern has been growing over a number of studies that have failed to replicate previous results and evidence from larger meta-analyses, which have pointed to the lack of reproducibility in biomedical research. On September 25 and 26, 2019, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a public workshop in Washington, DC, to discuss the current state of transparency in the reporting of preclinical biomedical research and to explore opportunities for harmonizing reporting guidelines across journals and funding agencies. Convened jointly by the Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation; the Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders; the National Cancer Policy Forum; and the Roundtable on Genomics and Precision Health, the workshop primarily focused on transparent reporting in preclinical research, but also considered lessons learned and best practices from clinical research reporting. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• PLANNING COMMITTEE ON ENHANCING SCIENTIFIC REPRODUCIBILITY IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH THROUGH TRANSPARENT REPORTING
• FORUM ON DRUG DISCOVERY, DEVELOPMENT, AND TRANSLATION
• FORUM ON NEUROSCIENCE AND NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDERS
• NATIONAL CANCER POLICY FORUM
• ROUNDTABLE ON GENOMICS AND PRECISION HEALTH
• Reviewers
• Acknowledgments
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• 1. Introduction
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS
• 2. Transparency and Trust
  • OVERVIEW OF REPRODUCIBILITY AND REPLICABILITY IN SCIENCE
    Harvey Fineberg, President.
  • SUSTAINING PUBLIC TRUST IN SCIENCE
    Marcia McNutt, President.
• 3. Approaches to Cultivate Transparent Reporting in Biomedical Research
  • EARLY CAREER INVESTIGATOR PERSPECTIVE
    Yarimar Carrasquillo, Investigator.
  • CULTURE CHANGE ORGANIZATION PERSPECTIVE
    Brian Nosek, Co-Founder.
  • SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY JOURNAL EDITOR PERSPECTIVE
    Arturo Casadevall.
  • NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
    Carrie Wolinetz.
  • DISCUSSION
• 4. Lessons Learned and Best Practices
  • LESSONS FROM THE SPIRIT INITIATIVE
    An-Wen Chan, Phelan Scientist.
  • THE INSTITUTION'S ROLE IN IMPROVING REPRODUCIBILITY
    Geeta Swamy.
  • FUNDER/FOUNDATION ROLE IN INFLUENCING AND ENABLING REPRODUCIBILITY
    Magali Haas.
  • DISCUSSION
• 5. Checklists and Guidelines
  • CHECKLIST IMPLEMENTATION BY LIFE SCIENCE JOURNALS: TOWARD MINIMUM REPORTING STANDARDS FOR RESEARCH
    Sowmya Swaminathan, Head and Malcolm Macleod.
  • APPROACHES TO IMPROVE ADHERENCE TO CHECKLISTS AND GUIDELINES
    Shai Silberberg.
  • DISCUSSION
• 6. Toward Minimal Reporting Standards for Preclinical Biomedical Research
  • WHAT TRANSPARENT REPORTING MEANS FOR REVIEWERS
    Benedict Kolber.
  • IMPROVING ASSESSMENT OF REPRODUCIBILITY
    Richard Nakamura.
  • CULTURE CHANGE FOR JOURNAL PUBLISHERS
    Valda Vinson.
  • ENGAGING RESEARCH SUPPORT STAFF
    Franklin Sayre.
  • LIBRARIANS DRIVING INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
    Melissa Rethlefsen.
  • APPLYING A SYSTEMATIC FRAMEWORK TO DEVELOPING MIMIMAL REPORTING STANDARDS
    Michael Keiser, Assistant Professor.
  • THE IMPACT OF MINIMAL STANDARDS ON IMPROVING METHODOLOGY
    Steven Goodman.
  • DISCUSSION
• 7. Stakeholder Opportunities for Promoting Transparent Reporting
  • SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION REPORTS
  • CLOSING STATEMENT
• Appendixes
  • Appendix A. References
  • Appendix B. Background Discussion Document: Selected Guidelines for Transparent Reporting
  • Appendix C. Workshop Agenda

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Enhancing scientific reproducibility in biomedical research through transparent reporting: Proceedings of a workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25627.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25627

Additional copies of this publication are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

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