Study calls for journal checks on experimental design

Checklists for life sciences papers could improve study design, transparency and reproducibility, researchers argue

Introducing internal checklists for life science journals could get scientists to adhere to better practices in crafting their experiments, while also boosting transparency and improving replicability of research, according to a recent study.

Researchers led by Malcolm Macleod at the University of Edinburgh piloted a method by which journals can ask authors to confirm whether they’ve taken steps to ensure their research is free of bias.