Abstract

This moderated panel discussion will focus on the topic of potential unintended consequences of science reforms. The key problem is that interventions to complex systems, such as economies or academic science, can have downstream effects that are difficult to anticipate. In this session, panel members from diverse fields will discuss the extent to which prominent science reforms (e.g., open-science practices, rewarding replications, rewarding work irrespective of the results) may have underappreciated repercussions.

This panel discussion will particularly focus on ways to anticipate unintended consequences (e.g., learning from failures of existing interventions in other disciplines). For example, research in economics shows that incentives can backfire because they crowd out moral motivations or because they provide information about unknown costs associated with the incentivized action.

The discussion will result in a report that summarizes points of agreement and disagreement among panel members, key problems identified, and recommended future directions for research.

The panel will consist of four members, all of whom have confirmed their participation:

Anna Dreber
Kartik Panchanathan
Denny Borsboom
Sophia Cruwell

The two co-organizers of this panel are Leo Tiokhin and Noah van Dongen.