Reproducibility, questionable research practices and ethico-epistemic trade-offs in animal-based biomedicine

I discuss reproducibility issues in animal-based research in biomedicine and scrutinise the notion that the causes of non-reproducible results are, by and large, the same as in other disciplines. I argue that there are certain challenges of animal experimentation that are important for a proper analysis of reproducibility problems but have not been sufficiently analysed in this context. I focus on challenges related to standardisation practices and trade-offs between epistemic ideals and moral considerations in animal experimentation. Using an approach that integrates epistemological and ethical perspectives, I explore these challenges and draw out normative consequences of my analysis for the discussion revolving around questionable research practices in animal-based biomedicine and generic reform initiatives.

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Publication Details

Journal
European Journal for Philosophy of Science
Published
2026-03-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-026-00727-y
Primary Topic
Animal testing and alternatives
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Reproducibility, questionable research practices and ethico-epistemic trade-offs in animal-based biomedicine

Simon Lohse
European Journal for Philosophy of Science
Animal testing and alternatives
article

Reproducibility, questionable research practices and ethico-epistemic trade-offs in animal-based biomedicine

Simon Lohse
article en

Abstract

I discuss reproducibility issues in animal-based research in biomedicine and scrutinise the notion that the causes of non-reproducible results are, by and large, the same as in other disciplines. I argue that there are certain challenges of animal experimentation that are important for a proper analysis of reproducibility problems but have not been sufficiently analysed in this context. I focus on challenges related to standardisation practices and trade-offs between epistemic ideals and moral considerations in animal experimentation. Using an approach that integrates epistemological and ethical perspectives, I explore these challenges and draw out normative consequences of my analysis for the discussion revolving around questionable research practices in animal-based biomedicine and generic reform initiatives.

European Journal for Philosophy of ScienceVol. 16(2)
Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), University of Johannesburg (ZA)
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
Animal testing and alternatives
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