What happens when scientists cannot reproduce each other's results, and what does that mean for public trust in research? In this episode of SIAcast, Jonny Coates and co-host Emmanuel Boakye trace how concerns about unreliable findings grew into a global movement for better science. From psychology's replication debates to laboratory biology and open science reform, the episode looks at why reproducibility became one of the defining conversations in modern academia. Featuring voices from the UK Reproducibility Network, the African Reproducibility Network and the Brazilian Reproducibility Network, the discussion goes past the headlines to ask a harder question: is science broken, or simply adapting? Guests discuss transparency, incentives, research culture, AI, academic pressure and community-driven reform. Rather than a story about failure, this is a story about scientists working together to improve the systems they work within. Key Takeaways Networks connect the isolated: Reproducibility networks were built to link researchers who were each working alone on the same problems.The UKRN model has three parts: Grassroots researchers, university leadership and stakeholders such as funders and publishers, coordinated in one structure."Crisis" is contested: Several guests question the word, arguing the issue is tied to incentives, transparency and research culture rather than to fraud.Disciplines differ: Reproducibility means different things in psychology, lab biology and qualitative research, and there is no single fix.Open practices are becoming standard: Data sharing, documentation, better statistics and transparent workflows are increasingly central to research quality.Community may be the strongest safeguard: Collaborative fields such as the Drosophila research community appear to support reproducibility and sharing on their own.Biographies Co-host Emmanuel Boakye is the Founder and Executive Director of the African Reproducibility Network (AREN), which he started in 2022 through the eLife Community Ambassadors program. AREN works across the continent on open science practices, research culture and reproducibility, running training and building local communities of practice at universities and research institutes. Guests Marcus Munafò is Professor of Biological Psychology at the University of Bristol and a co-founder of the UK Reproducibility Network, launched in 2019. His work covers research integrity, reproducibility and open research, and he chairs UKRN's supervisory board. Olavo Amaral is Professor at the Leopoldo de Meis Institute of Medical Biochemistry at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He coordinates the Brazilian Reproducibility Initiative, a multi-laboratory replication project, and is a founding member of the Brazilian Reproducibility Network. Bruno Lemaitre is a researcher in Drosophila immunity and a co-author of ReproSci, a retrospective analysis of 1,006 claims from 400 papers published between 1959 and 2011. He has also written on how scientific communities respond to replication efforts. Eduarda Centeno is co-Executive Director of the Brazilian Reproducibility Network, where she leads community engagement, training and advocacy. Her work focuses on culture change, education and widening access to reproducible research practices. Chapter Timestamps 00:00 – Introducing the reproducibility crisis01:23 – What is the UK Reproducibility Network?03:30 – Why convening researchers, institutions and funders matters04:45 – Why reproducibility networks exist06:42 – How UKRN was created13:52 – The global spread of reproducibility networks14:04 – Building the African Reproducibility Network (AREN)17:44 – Is reproducibility really a "crisis"?20:57 – Measuring reproducibility vs measuring quality24:36 – Reproducibility challenges in bioscience27:11 – Bruno Lemaitre's Drosophila reproducibility project 31:31 – Concerns about the future of academia 32:36 – What reproducibility networks actually do 34:48 – Inside the Brazilian Reproducibility Network 36:27 – MOOCs, training and changing research culture 39:45 – Is science improving? 42:26 – AI, universities and the future of research 46:15 – Why community matters in science 48:10 – What changes academia still needs 51:41 – How researchers can get involved 52:14 – Can we still trust scientific knowledge? 54:41 – Final reflections: improving science together Music: Upbeat Corporate by JP Bianchini Produced by Rippling Ideas for the Science Integrity Alliance
