Replicability and the humanities: the problem with universal measures of research quality

Responding to claims that replication studies represent epistemic progress in the humanities, this article outlines how empirical research in the humanities renders universal metascientific measures of research quality problematic at best. It uses Samuel Huntington’s often-replicated Clash of Civilizations as a case study to introduce key onto-epistemic issues at stake, highlighting the incompatibility of non-positivist humanities research paradigms with replicability. It then considers two recent efforts to replicate a seminal humanities text from the field of religion and science, arguing that while these studies make useful findings, they do not translate to epistemic progress in the humanities more generally. In doing so, this paper serves not only as a rejoinder to STEM-centric conceptions of research quality, but also a defence of transformative humanities research in the context of widespread attacks on humanities scholarship.