Streamlining the self-correction process: a review of the use of replication research by organizational scholars

What is it about?

Replication is a primary self-correction device in science. In this paper we have two aims: to examine how and when the results of replications are used in management and organization research and to use the results of this examination to offer guidelines for improving the self-correction process. Study 1 reveals, among other things, that a huge majority (92%) of sources that cite the original study fail to co-cite a replication study, thus calling into question the impact of replications in our field. Study 2 shows that the indirect impact of replications through meta-analyses is likewise minimal. However, our analyses also show that replications published in the same journal that carried the original study and authored by the same author team are more likely to be co-cited, and that articles in higher-ranking journals are more likely to co-cite replications. We use these results to formulate recommendations that would streamline the self-correction process in management research at the author-, reviewer- and journal-level.

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