The QUEST 1,000 € Replication Study Award

Publish your Replication Study – Fight the replication crises!

Reproducibility is fundamental to scientific Progress (see also Statement of the German Research Foundation, only in German). Unfortunately, the replication of studies carries little prestige in academic research. Only recently have systematic replication studies demonstrated that current biomedicine has a serious replication problem, which led to the declaration of a reproducibility crisis. We need more systematic replication efforts of high quality, regardless of their outcome.

QUEST is offering this award of 1,000 € to first/last/corresponding BIH or Charité authors (and employees) of papers in which the main result is a NULL or ‘negativ‘ or in which the replication of own results or the the results of others is attempted. Papers must habe been published from 2017 onwards. Prizes can be spent until the end of 2023. Awards are given on an ongoing basis. Awardees will be featured on the QUEST web pages.

FUNDED PUBLICATIONS

1. The publication "Individual Alpha Frequency Relates to the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion" receives a QUEST Replication Study award. The study successfully reproduces and extends the findings of a 2015 published study. The replication of the previous results increases the robustness of observations that describe an important neuronal mechanism. The article was published 2017 in Multisensory Research (DOI: 10.1163/22134808-00002572). Applicant: Dr. Julian Keil, Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie der Charité im St. Hedwig-Krankenhaus Berlin.
2. The publication "A critical reexamination of doing arithmetic nonconsciously" receives a Replication Study award. By reanalyzing an already published data set, the authors were able to show that previous claims about the ability to solve equations without consciously perceiving them, are not fully supported. The publication emphasizes the importance of cumulative research strategies to provide evidence that allows valid and strong conclusions. The article was published 2017 in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (DOI: 10.3758/s13423-017-1292-x). Applicant: PD Dr. Guido Hesselmann, Visual Perception Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charité Campus Mitte.
3. The publication "General, crystallized and fluid intelligence are not associated with functional global network efficiency: A replication study with the human connectome project 1200 data set" receives a Replication Study award. Making use of data from the Human Connectome Project, this study set out to replicate earlier findings that general intelligence is associated with global functional network efficiency. These results could, however, not be reproduced, indicating that earlier reports, based on much smaller samples, might not be robust. The article was published 2018 in NeuroImage (DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.018). Applicant: Lea Waller, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
4. The publication "Long-Range Temporal Correlations in Resting State Beta Oscillations are Reduced in Schizophrenia" receives a QUEST Replication Study award. The authors could replicate the results of a previous study on long-range temporal correlations as a marker of network instability in people with schizophrenia. In their replication study, they used both a higher spatial resolution as well as stricter statistical methods compared to the original study. The article was published in 2019 in Frontiers in Psychiatry (DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00517). Applicant: Dr. James Moran and Georgios Michail, Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
5. The publication "The Value of a Rapid Test of Human Regulatory T Cell Function Needs to be Revised" receives a QUEST replication study award. The article could demonstrate that a previously high-ranked published protocol for the assessment of human regulatory T cell (Treg) function is misleading and does not yield data of Treg function but rather of assay setup artifacts. This article was published in 2019 in the journal "Frontiers in Immunology" (DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00150). Applicant: Jacqueline Wendering, Institute for Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
6. The publication "Association Between Thrombus Perviousness Assessed on Computed Tomography and Stroke Cause" receives a QUEST Replication Study award. This study replicated a previous study on a new medical imaging biomarker for the detection of cardioembolic strokes, which was clinically relevant but which lacked a larger sample size and a multicentric design. This article was published in 2020 in the journal "Stroke" (DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.031148). Applicant: Ludwig Schlemm, Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology Campus Charité Mitte, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin
7. The publication "No Impact of Functional Connectivity of the Motor System on the Resting Motor Threshold: A Replication Study" receives a QUEST Replication Study award. This study attempted to replicate the results of a previously published study on influencing factors on the resting motor threshold. Using a larger sample size than the previous study, they could not replicate this effect. This article was published in 2021 in the journal "frontiers in Neuroscience" (DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.627445). Applicant: Melina Engelhardt, Image Guidance Lab, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin
8. The publication "Generalizability of Deep Learning Models for Caries Detection in Near-Infrared Light Transillumination Images" recieves a QUEST Replication Study award. In this study, the authors trained a machine learning model on a newly generated in vivo dataset to detect caries lesions on Near-Infrared Light Transillumination (NILT) imagery. The authors used the same approach on an in vitro dataset in a previous study. Aim of this study is to assess if the previous results on the in vitro datasets replicate and generalize using in vivo data. This article was published in 2021 in the "Journal of Clinical Medicine" (DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.627445). Applicant: Falk Schwendicke, Department of Oral Diagnostics, Digital Health and Health Services Research, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin
9. The publication "Heartbeat and Somatosensory Perception" receives a QUEST Replication Study award. In this study, the authors replicated their previous findings that two heartbeat-related factors, cardiac phase and the heartbeat evoked potential can modulate somatosensory perception. This article was published in 2021 in NeuroImage (DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118247). Applicant: Esra Al, Center for Stroke Research Berlin (CSB), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
10. The publication "Functional connectivity alterations between default mode network and occipital cortex in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)" receives a QUEST Replication Study award. The authors tested main findings from a meta-analysis on resting state connectivity in obsessive compulsory disorder. For this, they tested a new sample  of OCD patients and healthy controls. They could largely replicate connectivity results from the meta analysis and thus strengthened the confidence in these findings. This article was published in 2022 in NeuroImage: Clinical (DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102915). Applicant: Tal Geffen, Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte