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metascience
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metascience

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Also known as meta-research, meta-science, evidence-based research, research on research, science of science

Metascience (also known as meta-research) is the use of scientific methodology to study science itself. Metascience seeks to increase the quality of scientific research and enhance its efficiency. It is also known as "research on research" and "the science of science", as it uses research methods to study how research is done and find where improvements can be made. Metascience concerns itself with all fields of research and has been described as "a bird's eye view of science". In the words of John Ioannidis, "Science is the best thing that has happened to human beings... but we can do it bett

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Metascience

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Article

60 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Fields and topics of meta-research
  • Methods
  • Scientific data science
  • Journalology
  • Reporting
  • Reproducibility
  • Evaluation and incentives
  • Contributorship
  • Assessment factors
  • Recognition of training
  • Scientometrics
  • Science governance
  • Incentives
  • Science funding and awards
  • Research questions and coordination
  • Risk governance
  • Science communication and public use
  • Alternative metrics tools
  • Societal implications and applications
  • Knowledge integration
  • Science journalism
  • Science education
  • Science misconceptions and anti-science attitudes
  • Evolution of sciences
  • Scientific practice
  • Science overall and intrafield developments
  • Subject-level resolutions
  • Growth or stagnation of science overall
  • Topic mapping
  • Controversies, current debates and disagreement
  • Challenges of interpretation of pooled results
  • Knowledge integration and living documents
  • Factors of success and progress
  • Novel ideas and disruptive scholarship
  • Mentorship, partnerships and social factors
  • Study of successful scientists and processes, general skills and activities
  • Labor advantage
  • Ultimate impacts
  • Progress studies
  • As and for acceleration of progress
  • Reforms
  • Pre-registration
  • Reporting standards
  • Applications
  • Information and communications technologies
  • Study screening and feedback
  • Tools used, modified, extended or investigated
  • Development
  • Medicine
  • Psychology
  • Physics
  • Computer Science
  • Organizations and institutes
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links
  • Journals
  • Conferences

Metascience (also known as meta-research) is the use of scientific methodology to study science itself. Metascience seeks to increase the quality of scientific research and enhance its efficiency. It is also known as "research on research" and "the science of science", as it uses research methods to study how research is done and find where improvements can be made. Metascience concerns itself with all fields of research and has been described as "a bird's eye view of science". In the words of John Ioannidis, "Science is the best thing that has happened to human beings... but we can do it better."

In 1966, an early meta-research paper examined the statistical methods of 295 papers published in ten high-profile medical journals. It found that "in almost 73% of the reports read... conclusions were drawn when the justification for these conclusions was invalid." Meta-research in the following decades found many methodological flaws, inefficiencies, and poor practices in research across numerous scientific fields. Many scientific studies could not be reproduced, particularly in medicine and the soft sciences. The term "replication crisis" was coined in the early 2010s as part of a growing awareness of the problem.

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