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A heated debate surrounds the significance of reproducibility as an indicator for research quality and reliability, with many commentators linking a “crisis of reproducibility” to the rise of fraudulent, careless, and unreliable practices of knowledge production. Through the analysis of discourse and practices across research fields, I point out that reproducibility is not only interpreted in different ways, but also serves a variety of epistemic functions depending on the research at hand. Given such variation, I argue that the uncritical pursuit of reproducibility as an overarching epistemic value is misleading and potentially damaging to scientific advancement. Requirements for reproducibility, however they are interpreted, are one of many available means to secure reliable research outcomes. Furthermore, there are cases where the focus on enhancing reproducibility turns out not to foster high-quality research. Scientific communities and Open Science advocates should learn from inferential reasoning from irreproducible data, and promote incentives for all researchers to explicitly and publicly discuss (1) their methodological commitments, (2) the ways in which they learn from mistakes and problems in everyday practice, and (3) the strategies they use to choose which research components of any project need to be preserved in the long term, and how.

It has been discovered that some results published in studies may not be correct because different researchers using the same dataset and analytical methods were unable to create the same results. This dilemma is called the reproducibility crisis. Currently, there has not been a comprehensive examination of the possible existence of this crisis in the field of autism spectrum research. This chapter does not answer the question, ‘Is there a reproducibility crisis occurring in the field of autism spectrum research?’ Rather, it contains an outline of this crisis, explains some of the most influential factors that have contributed to its development and how scholars who study the autism spectrum can change their research practices so that this crisis does not develop.

The original contribution that this chapter makes to autism spectrum research is to explain how some solutions to the reproducibility crisis can be implemented into the field of autism spectrum research.

The variability of the results of a visual control is often high. This paper aims to propose a new tool to give information about what improvement actions can be carried out to reduce this variability.

The variability of a visual control can be measured by Kappa's Fleiss which measures the level of agreement between appraisers and experts. The R&R Gage is then classically used to give information about corrective actions which can be carried out in order to improve this level of agreement. The paper demonstrated that this information is not always sufficient.

By considering the two essential steps of a visual control (exploration and evaluation), the R2&E2 Gage proposed gives more precise information about the improvement actions to carry out to reduce the variability of a visual control. Repeatability and reproducibility, for detection and evaluation purposes, are considered separately.

This R2&E2 gage is one result of a European research program called INTERREG. The aim of this program, which brings together two laboratories from the University of Savoy and EPFL, two institutional partners (CTDEC and CETEHOR) and some Swiss and French industrial companies, is to create methodological support and the tools needed to improve the visual control of high added‐value products.

This R2&E2 gage has been used in six industrial companies involved in the European program INTERREG. Significant improvement of the visual control has been observed over a short time.

The paper fulfils an identified need of industrial firms to have efficient tools improving the visual control of their products.

The overall goal of science is to build a valid and reliable body of knowledge about the functioning of the world and how applying that knowledge can change it. As personnel and human resources management researchers, we aim to contribute to the respective bodies of knowledge to provide both employers and employees with a workable foundation to help with those problems they are confronted with. However, what research on research has consistently demonstrated is that the scientific endeavor possesses existential issues including a substantial lack of (a) solid theory, (b) replicability, (c) reproducibility, (d) proper and generalizable samples, (e) sufficient quality control (i.e., peer review), (f) robust and trustworthy statistical results, (g) availability of research, and (h) sufficient practical implications. In this chapter, we first sing a song of sorrow regarding the current state of the social sciences in general and personnel and human resources management specifically. Then, we investigate potential grievances that might have led to it (i.e., questionable research practices, misplaced incentives), only to end with a verse of hope by outlining an avenue for betterment (i.e., open science and policy changes at multiple levels).

The advances in miniaturisation and ever increasing complexity of integrated circuits frequently mean an increase in the number of connections to a component with simultaneous reduction in pitch. For these emerging smaller contact geometries, micro‐laser connection technologies are required. The reliability of the connection plays a decisive rôle. The implementation and reproducibility of laser connections technology in micro‐electronics depend on good thermal contact between the two parts and high quality absorption of the material surface used. Laser energy can cause local melting due to overheating of the lead because of the low distance between lead and bump. This effect influences the reproducibility of the contacts. Even the slightest interruption in the thermal contact of the parts can cause non‐reproducibility of the contacts. Materials with a higher quality of absorption, for example Sn(32% ), can be soldered with a good level of reproducibility. This clearly differs from gold (4% ) or copper(7% ) surfaces. Due to the low absorption of these materials it is necessary to use a laser with a higher intensity to produce the same energy. Irregularities in the quality of absorption, laser instability and thermal contact can not guarantee reproducibility of the interconnections with this high laser intensity. The FPC (fibre push connection) system offers several solutions to the problems mentioned. This system enables the laser to be transported by fibre to the contact parts. The end piece of the fibre serves at the same time as a pushing unit. The advantage of this system is that the attenuation heat of the fibre end surface is also available for the connection. This improves the use of laser energy. As part of the laser energy at the end surface of the fibre is transformed into thermal energy, independently of the absorption quality of the material used, connection of a gold‐plated contact part is possible. By pressing the connecting parts with the tip of the fibre, optimal coupling is achieved. The reproducibility of different metallisations and the reliability of connections with a pitch below 100 μm are presented as well as further applications of this system.

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) is a widely accepted guideline for performing a systematic review (SR) in clinical journals. It not only helps an author to improve the reporting but also assists reviewers and editors in the critical appraisal of available SR. These tools help in achieving reproducibility in research, a major concern in contemporary academic research. But there is a lack of awareness about the approach among management researchers. This chapter attempts to fill this gap using a narrative review of reliable online resources and peer-reviewed articles to discuss the PRISMA guidelines and recent amendments. The chapter further points out the limitations of PRISMA in the review of management literature and suggests measures to overcome that. This piece of literature introduces a reader to the basics of a systematic review using PRISMA as an instrument. One of the significant contributions is to delineate a seven-step strategy to attain reproducibility in the systematic review. The chapter is useful for researchers and academicians in the field of social science and management.

The purpose of this project was to develop research support services that address local and external research data management (RDM) support drivers within the existing organizational culture at the University of Florida. The goal was to prompt organization change to support a campus-wide electronic lab notebook.

This project used a mixed-methods research approach to cultivate an organizational change program that support technological infrastructure to benefit researchers. The mixed-methods research involved participation action research integrated with a stakeholder approach.

The development of the grant proposal which was unfunded led to development of continued project goals. This project confirmed the development for support for an institution-wide electronic research notebook (ERN) solution requires adherence to the summary of five key actions for developing RDM services. Failure to complete all of the key actions engenders fragmentation culture.

This project includes implications for institutions to develop grant proposals with integrated budgets for research support services of funded projects; and to use the summary of key actions for developing RDM services articulated by Jones et al. (2013) in “How to Develop RDM Services – a guide for HEIs.” Both are need to support findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable data for researchers.

This project has practical implications for higher education institutions interested in leveraging socio-technical processes to advance the role of libraries as collaborator, partner and stakeholder in developing institution-wide adoption, support and training for ERN as a research support service to RDM.

This paper contributes to the body of developing literature on ERN as support services to RDM lead by academic research libraries.

This project contributed to the change in organization culture resulting in the successful collaboration between the Research Office and College of Medicine to support an institution-wide ERN technological infrastructure for one year as a pilot at a large academic research institution in the southeast USA.

The aim of this study is to determine the variation of the different oil analysis instruments in terms of standard deviation and CV‐values, when measuring samples of fully formulated hydraulic and gear oils taken from working systems.

In this investigation, two different spectrometric techniques, inductively coupled plasma‐optical emission spectrometers (ICP‐OES) and rotating disk electrode‐optical emission spectrometers (RDE‐OES), have been studied to determine the instruments' precision of measurement and ability to measure the absolute level of contamination. The study was based on a series of measurements using artificial contamination mixed with oil.

The ICP has better precision of measurement of the two instruments, but cannot predict the absolute values of contamination when oil samples are only treated by organic solvent dilution if the samples include large or dense particles. It is therefore not too good, with the sample pre‐treatment method used, at detecting wear processes that produce dense/large particles, such as pitting failure. For instance, microwave‐assisted acid digestion could be used for sample pre‐treating to obtain accurate results in that case. It should, however, be able to detect wear mechanisms that produce small particles such as abrasive wear in any case. The ICP has a repeatability value of r=3 percent and a reproducibility value of R=12 percent for contamination levels of between 50 and 400 ppm and r=0.6  and R=2 ppm, respectively, at values below 50 ppm. The RDE cannot predict the absolute value of contamination if this includes large or dense particles if proper sample pre‐treatment is not used. It is therefore not good at detecting wear mechanisms that produces dense/large particles (if the oil samples are not pre‐treated properly) such as pitting but should be able to detect abrasive wear and similar processes that produce small particles in any case. The RDE's precision of measurement is not as good as the ICP, with a reproducibility variation of R=r=25 percent for contamination levels between 20 and 500 ppm and R=r=6 ppm for contamination level below 20 ppm.

Only the effects from lubricating oils are studied.

This study will significantly increase the industrial knowledge concerning measurement precision in particle contamination measurement systems.

No similar study is found.

Recently, gauge repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R) study has been highly regarded by the quality practitioners when QS9000 and D19000 become fashionable requirements for manufacturing industries. Measurement plays a significant role in helping organizations improve their product quality. Good quality of products is the key factor towards business success. Therefore, how to ensure the quality of measurement becomes an important task for quality practitioners. In performing the GR&R study, several parameters, such as the appropriate sample size of parts (n), number of inspectors (p) and replicate measurements (k) are frequently asked by quality personnel in industries. The adequacy of current way of (n, p, k) selection is very questionable. A statistical method using the shortest confidence interval and its associated computer programming algorithm are presented in this paper for evaluating the optimal allocation among sample size of parts (n), number of inspectors (p) and replicate measurements (k). Hopefully, it can provide a useful reference for quality practitioners in industries.

Changes in file format specifications challenge long-term preservation of digital documents. Digital archives thus often focus on specific file formats that are well suited for long-term preservation, such as the PDF/A format. Since only few customers submit PDF/A files, digital archives may consider converting submitted files to the PDF/A format. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The authors evaluated three software tools for batch conversion of common file formats to PDF/A-1b: LuraTech PDF Compressor, Adobe Acrobat XI Pro and 3-Heights^TM Document Converter by PDF Tools. The test set consisted of 80 files, with 10 files each of the eight file types JPEG, MS PowerPoint, PDF, PNG, MS Word, MS Excel, MSG and “web page.”

Batch processing was sometimes hindered by stops that required manual interference. Depending on the software tool, three to four of these stops occurred during batch processing of the 80 test files. Furthermore, the conversion tools sometimes failed to produce output files even for supported file formats: three (Adobe Pro) up to seven (LuraTech and 3-Heights^TM) PDF/A-1b files were not produced. Since Adobe Pro does not convert e-mails, a total of 213 PDF/A-1b files were produced. The faithfulness of each conversion was investigated by comparing the visual appearance of the input document with that of the produced PDF/A-1b document on a computer screen. Meticulous visual inspection revealed that the conversion to PDF/A-1b impaired the information content in 24 of the converted 213 files (11 percent). These reproducibility errors included loss of links, loss of other document content (unreadable characters, missing text, document part missing), updated fields (reflecting time and folder of conversion), vector graphics issues and spelling errors.

These results indicate that large-scale batch conversions of heterogeneous files to PDF/A-1b cause complex issues that need to be addressed for each individual file. Even with considerable efforts, some information loss seems unavoidable if large numbers of files from heterogeneous sources are migrated to the PDF/A-1b format.