Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How common are replication studies in psychology? The answer depends on how you look.
In this talk, Tim Rakow challenges one of the most widely cited claims in meta-research—that replication accounts for only around 1% of published psychology research. Through a series of pre-registered studies, Tim demonstrates how common database search methods can substantially underestimate the prevalence of replication by missing studies that replicate previous work without explicitly using the word replication.
The session explores what this means for evidence synthesis, systematic reviews, and our understanding of scientific progress. It also highlights the importance of replication with extension and cautions against drawing strong conclusions from what database searches fail to find.
How common are replication studies in psychology? The answer depends on how you look.
In this talk, Tim Rakow challenges one of the most widely cited claims in meta-research—that replication accounts for only around 1% of published psychology research. Through a series of pre-registered studies, Tim demonstrates how common database search methods can substantially underestimate the prevalence of replication by missing studies that replicate previous work without explicitly using the word replication.
The session explores what this means for evidence synthesis, systematic reviews, and our understanding of scientific progress. It also highlights the importance of replication with extension and cautions against drawing strong conclusions from what database searches fail to find.
