Meta-Research in Neuroscience: An Urgent Call to Strengthen the Reliability and Translation of Knowledge into Evidence-Based Neurological Practice
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: Despite the exponential expansion of neuroscience over recent decades, the field has rarely examined the rigor, transparency, and reproducibility of its own evidence base (research on research). Through a brief systematic exploration of the Scopus database, we identified more than 370,000 neuroscience articles, yet only 15 explicitly addressed meta-research questions, representing a mere 0.004% of the total literature. These few studies were concentrated in high-income countries and limited mainly to neuroimaging and methodological reporting, leaving major subfields such as neuropharmacology, neuropathology, and neuroendocrinology virtually unexplored. This striking imbalance reveals a systemic absence of evidence self-assessment and highlights how neuroscience has advanced without adequate reflection on the validity and translatability of its findings. The lack of meta-research weakens the reliability of neuroscientific evidence, slows the development of shared reporting standards, and risks compromising its translation into evidence-based neurological practice. Strengthening global collaboration, fostering reflexivity, and integrating meta-research into neuroscience are urgent steps toward ensuring that the knowledge generated in laboratories and trials truly supports trustworthy, reproducible, and clinically meaningful clinical healthcare in neurological sciences.
Source: Journal of Clinical Medicine
DOI: 10.3390/jcm14238552
Authors: Ivan David Lozada-Martinez, Luis Miguel Delgado Arias, Diana Marcela Perea Rojas, Indiana Luz Rojas Torres
Language: English
Subfield: Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
Funder: Universidad Simón Bolívar
OpenAlex ID: W4417125012