Consume, Reproduce, Extend, and Connect: Sustaining Our Research Lifecycle

Editor's Summary: Scholarly research is at the forefront of innovation, especially with a breadth of new technologies that can enhance the research process. However, in a race for scholars to produce more and more new findings, documentation practices and reproduction of results may be neglected. Lack of validation through reproduction can lead to a general distrust of scholarly research and experiments, but a more generous approach to information sharing could be the answer to this issue. Scholars have connected socially for centuries to share their ideas, and this practice has led to some truly innovative ideas that have shaped our world today. With willing participants sharing their ideas and their research methods, new findings can be reproduced and validated, creating a stronger and more trustworthy community of scholars.