How do we address the "reproducibility crisis"?

The credibility of scientific activity has recently been under scrutiny with reports questioning the reproducibility of results. In response to this "reproducibility crisis", the National Institute of Health (NIH) designed a plan for more reproducible science in 2015, but progress to curb the issue seem to be slow at best. It is possible that the solutions proposed by the NIH are targeting symptoms rather than causes. In this recorded lecture, Dr. Poline first considers the field of neuroscience and human neuroimaging and analyzes the main causes of irreproducibility, considering the statistical and computational aspects of neuroimaging or imaging genetics. He then discusses the social components that are likely to contribute to irreproducibility. In a second part, Dr. Poline reviews solutions to foster a more reproducible research at the level of the tools and the statistical methods used - for example in high dimensions. Finally, he considers the academic ecosystem and proposes community actions that are both possible and could be effective to reshape the way we practice research.

Featured Speaker

Dr. Jean-Baptiste (JB) Poline is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill; the co-Chair of the NeuroHub and Chair of the Technical Steering Committee for the Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP) at the Montreal Neurological Institute & Hospital (the NEURO); and a Primary Investigator at the Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health.