Framework for assessing trustworthiness of scientific research

Amid robust debate over the trustworthiness of scientific findings in a number of different fields, a multidisciplinary group of scholars from different institutions has proposed a systems-level framework for evaluating the trustworthiness of research findings.

The framework is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by a group of researchers including Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication.

The researchers outline an overall “systems approach” that includes seven components to assess whether research findings are trustworthy: whether the research is accountable; evaluable, and has been evaluated; well formulated; controls bias; reduces error; and whether the claims are warranted by the evidence.

The authors write: “By adhering to practices that promote the trustworthiness of research findings, researchers contribute to a cumulative body of knowledge that can be relied upon by other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the public. In a world of misinformation, ideological campaigns, and motivated reasoning, producing trustworthy research findings may not be sufficient on its own to earn trust, but it is a necessary feature of an enterprise that is relentlessly truth-seeking.”

Read more at Annenberg Public Policy Center.