When Stephanie Noble, a new assistant professor of psychology in the Center for Cognitive and Brain Health, says that psychology and neuroscience are facing a “reproducibility crisis,” what she means is that the scientific method itself is at risk. Scientists are publishing results that other scientists may not be able to duplicate.

And if a study cannot be reproduced, how can we trust that its results are accurate?

The reasons for this crisis are complex, but include practices open to interpretation, the quirks of algorithmic software and the general difficulty of establishing methodological standards in “complex and quickly evolving” fields, Noble says.

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Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University