The so-called replicability crisis in the social sciences is a major concern for researchers in psychology, economics, sociology and related disciplines. The credibility of our research is being threatened by the lack of formal replication efforts regarding empirical (mainly experimental) results. In other disciplines such as biology, medicine or chemistry, replication of results with independent samples is not an option, it is simply the standard protocol before any finding can be published. Recently, some very valuable steps have been taken to alleviate these concerns in the social sciences.
No doubt, SABE has to be there! The SABE Replication Network (SABERN) has therefore been created to enhance the scientific standards, in terms of replicability and reproducibility of results, in behavioral and experimental economics.
The SABERN is thought as a platform through which researchers in behavioral and experimental economics can (try to) replicate, with independent samples, both their own results prior to publishing them or other already-published results. Furthermore, in the SABERN webpage users can find information about a network of labs around the world, with SABE playing the pivotal role of linking all of them. In addition, the SABERN serves as a repository of experimental instructions, data, etc. as sharing research materials is fundamental for reproducibility purposes.
Note here also that other types of collaboration can exist different from “pure” replication projects: for instance, cross-cultural or simply multi-lab studies can take advantage of the network of labs provided by SABERN.
The SABERN is led by Antonio M. Espín (University of Granada), Roberto Hernán-González (Burgundy School of Business, Dijon), Alexis Belianin (Higher School of Economics, Moscow) and Valerio Capraro (Middlesex University London). However, it is intended to be an almost “self-service” space where replications and communication among researchers flow with nearly no participation of the SABERN leaders. We believe that this procedure ensures a good balance between high scientific standards and efficiency of procedures.