The regulatory ethos in science

Abstract This paper introduces the concept of the regulatory ethos to describe some common values and ideals that underscore the close connection between validation and regulation that this issue of BJHS Themes explores. We identify the primary motivation for this ethos as making knowledge production processes traceable, and define the regulatory ethos as valuing plans over situated actions, uniformity over heterogeneity, auditing over communication, and validation over validity. Standard operating procedures, reporting checklists, preregistrations, compliance rules and monitoring are key means through which this ethos is enacted. While regulators have been instrumental in promulgating this ethos, it is not confined to the regulatory sphere. We argue that reforms aimed at enhancing rigour and reproducibility are an example of how the practices and values associated with regulatory science have diffused out into academic science. Identifying this ethos as regulatory in origin – rather than wholly new or as part of a broader process of modernization – allows us to see that alternatives are not unscientific per se, and better identify the strengths and weaknesses of the regulatory ethos of science, such as the risk that data produced through these procedures will be replicable, statistically rigorous, and transparent, but not meaningful.