The Center for Open Science (COS) has launched the Replicability Project: Health Behavior (RPHB), a collaborative initiative designed to assess the reliability of empirical findings in health-related research. The project will evaluate the replicability of a broad sample of quantitative health behavior studies published between 2015 and 2024.
This effort is intended to strengthen scientific credibility and inform public health decision-making by replicating up to 60 empirical studies across a range of topics that influence health policies and interventions. The project underscores the central role of replication in ensuring the robustness of scientific evidence, particularly in disciplines where outcomes directly impact population health and public trust.
RPHB will focus on studies published in six key journals: Journal of Health Communication, Social Science & Medicine, Journal of Public Health, Applied Research in Quality of Life, American Journal of Health Promotion, and Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Each selected study will undergo replication using either newly collected or independent secondary data.
The initiative builds on earlier COS replication projects, including the Reproducibility Project: Psychology, Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology, and the SCORE program, all of which contributed significant evidence to the discourse on research reliability and reproducibility.
Participating researchers will contribute either by replicating selected studies or by serving as peer reviewers and editors to ensure methodological consistency and transparency. All replication protocols and outputs will be hosted on the Open Science Framework (OSF), incorporating preregistration, open access to data and materials, and publicly available results.
Researchers interested in contributing to the RPHB project—either as replication teams or peer reviewers—may express interest immediately. All replications must be concluded by January 31, 2026. The project will provide guidance, resources, and may offer funding to support qualified teams.
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