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{{About|the reproducibility of scientific research results|reproductive capacity of organisms|fertility|and|fecundity|reproducibility in the context of computer software|Reproducible builds}}
'''Reproducibility''', closely related to '''replicability''' and '''repeatability''', is a major principle underpinning the [[scientific method]]. For the findings of a study to be reproducible means that results obtained by an [[experiment]] or an [[observational study]] or in a [[statistical analysis]] of a [[data set]] should be achieved again with a high degree of reliability when the study is replicated. There are different kinds of replication<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tsang|first1=Eric W. K.|last2=Kwan|first2=Kai-man|date=1999|title=Replication and Theory Development in Organizational Science: A Critical Realist Perspective|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amr.1999.2553252|journal=Academy of Management Review|volume=24|issue=4|pages=759–780|doi=10.5465/amr.1999.2553252|issn=0363-7425|url-access=subscription}}</ref> but typically replication studies involve different researchers using the same methodology. Only after one or several such successful replications should a result be recognized as scientific knowledge.
==History==
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==Measures of reproducibility and repeatability==
In chemistry, the terms reproducibility and repeatability are used with a specific quantitative meaning.<ref>{{Cite journal |last= |first= |title=IUPAC - reproducibility (R05305) |url=https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/R05305 |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=[[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry]]|doi= 10.1351/goldbook.R05305|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In inter-laboratory experiments, a concentration or other quantity of a chemical substance is measured repeatedly in different laboratories to assess the variability of the measurements. Then, the standard deviation of the difference between two values obtained within the same laboratory is called repeatability. The standard deviation for the difference between two measurement from different laboratories is called ''reproducibility''.<ref name="ASTM E177">{{cite web|url=https://www.astm.org/Standards/E177.htm |title=Standard Practice for Use of the Terms Precision and Bias in ASTM Test Methods |year=2014 |author=Subcommittee E11.20 on Test Method Evaluation and Quality Control |publisher=ASTM International |id=ASTM E177}}{{Subscription required}}</ref>
These measures are related to the more general concept of [[variance component]]s in [[metrology]].
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In March 1989, [[University of Utah]] chemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann reported the production of excess heat that could only be explained by a nuclear process ("[[cold fusion]]"). The report was astounding given the simplicity of the equipment: it was essentially an [[electrolysis]] cell containing [[heavy water]] and a [[palladium]] [[cathode]] which rapidly absorbed the [[deuterium]] produced during electrolysis. The news media reported on the experiments widely, and it was a front-page item on many newspapers around the world (see [[science by press conference]]). Over the next several months others tried to replicate the experiment, but were unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Physicists Debunk Claim Of a New Kind of Fusion|newspaper=New York Times|last=Browne|first=Malcolm|url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/science/050399sci-cold-fusion.html|date=3 May 1989|access-date=3 February 2017}}</ref>
[[Nikola Tesla]] claimed as early as 1899 to have used a high frequency current to light gas-filled lamps from over {{convert|25|mi|km}} away [[Wireless energy transfer|without using wires]]. In 1904 he built [[Wardenclyffe Tower]] on [[Shoreham, New York|Long Island]] to demonstrate means to send and receive power without connecting wires. The facility was never fully operational and was not completed due to economic problems, so no attempt to reproduce his first result was ever carried out.<ref>[[Margaret Cheney (author)|Cheney, Margaret]] (1999), ''Tesla, Master of Lightning'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, {{ISBN|0-7607-1005-8}}, pp. 107.; "Unable to overcome his financial burdens, he was forced to close the laboratory in 1905."</ref>
Other examples which contrary evidence has refuted the original claim:
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