Editorial: Revised Guidelines to Enhance the Rigor and Reproducibility of Research Published in American Physiological Society Journals

A challenge in modern research is the common inability to repeat novel findings published in even the most “impact-heavy” journals. In the great majority of instances, this may simply be due to a failure of the published manuscripts to include—and the publisher to require— comprehensive information on experimental design, methods, reagents, or the in vitro and in vivo systems under study. Failure to accurately reproduce all environmental influences on an experiment, particularly those using animals, also contributes to inability to repeat novel findings. The most common reason for failures of reproducibility may well bein the rigor and transparency with which methodology is described by authors. Another reason may be the reluctance by more established investigators to break with traditional methods of data presentation. However, one size does not fit all when it comes to data presentation, particularly because of the wide variety of data formats presented in individual disciplines represented by journals. Thus, some flexibility needs to be allowed. The American Physiological Society (APS) has made available guidelines for transparent reporting that it recommends all authors follow(https://www.physiology.org/author-info.promoting-transparent-reporting) (https://www.physiology.org/author-info.experimental-details-to-report). These are just some of the efforts being made to facilitate the communication of discovery in a transparent manner, which complement what has been a strength of the discipline for many years—the ability of the scientists and scientific literature to self-correct (8).