Welcome
CORTRE – COmplete Reporting for Transparent Reproducibility Efforts
Large-scale efforts investigating reproducibility, replicability, robustness, generalisability, or related concepts, whether across entire fields, research methods, study types, or journal articles, have an important influence on science policy, trajectory, and public trust in research. Examples of such “meta-studies” include large replication projects in psychology (RPP), cancer biology (RPCB), experimental economics (RPEE), as well as investigations into the robustness and/or computational reproducibility of results published in specific journals (e.g., Institute for Replication). These studies draw conclusions beyond the immediate set of included studies (for example, at the level of research fields, research methods, or study types). Some of these meta-studies have reported alarming results, and their papers are frequently cited in calls for science policy reforms and interventions, such as mandates for data and code sharing or preregistration.
Research that informs policy must be of the highest possible quality, reliable, and trustworthy. The “meta-study” format we refer to here, is relatively new and rapidly evolving. Data from meta-studies are frequently re-analysed, e.g., using novel metrics and methods to aggregate and contextualise results. Metaresearchers might also want to synthesise results from multiple efforts to draw conclusions that extend beyond individual meta-studies (in a meta-meta-study, if you will). All of these endeavours depend on transparent, high-quality reporting. To our knowledge, no reporting guideline exists at present for meta-studies.
To address this gap, the CORTRE team convened at the Responsible Research in Action Unconference in Berlin (https://rr-in-action2025.org/) to conceptualise and launch an initiative to create such a reporting guideline. In the coming months, we will follow the EQUATOR toolkit for developing reporting guidelines, including initial list creation, a Delphi exercise, a face-to-face meeting, and appropriate communication activities. Once developed, we hope that our reporting guideline will be useful to those designing future meta-studies and those assessing the quality of published meta-studies. We welcome additional researchers interested in joining the project.
Contact: Rachel Heyard on behalf of the CORTRE steering committee, Center for Reproducible Science and Research Synthesis, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Email: .