IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cbt/econwp/24-18.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do Replications Receive Fewer Citations? A Counterfactual Approach

Author

Listed:

Abstract

There is a widespread belief that replication studies are less cited than original research. This study introduces three counterfactual approaches for measuring the citations that an author or a journal would have received had they produced a non-replication study. Two of the measures are designed to measure citation incentives from the perspective of authors. One measure focuses on the perspective of journals. We collect data on 428 replications in economics published between 1958 and 2021 and assess whether these are cited less frequently than their matched counterfactuals. We obtain a wide range of estimates. Our preferred estimates use the ratio of citations of a replication to the citations of its matched counterfactuals. Using this measure, we estimate citation penalties as large as 51% and citation benefits as great as 227%. Most replications receive fewer citations than their matched counterfactuals, but a sizable portion, and sometimes even a majority, receive more. Finally, there is some evidence that replications that do not fully support the original study have more favorable citation rates than those that confirm the original study. While our analysis does not produce an unambiguous answer to whether replications receive less citations than their counterfactuals, it does revise the widely held, one-sided view that replications receive fewer citations.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Coupé & Thomas Logchies & W. Robert Reed, 2024. "Do Replications Receive Fewer Citations? A Counterfactual Approach," Working Papers in Economics 24/18, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
  • Handle: RePEc:cbt:econwp:24/18
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.canterbury.ac.nz/cbt/econwp/2418.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Institutions and the Resource Curse," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(508), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Sachs, Jeffrey D & Warner, Andrew M, 1997. "Sources of Slow Growth in African Economies," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 6(3), pages 335-376, October.
    3. Seeber, Marco & Cattaneo, Mattia & Meoli, Michele & Malighetti, Paolo, 2019. "Self-citations as strategic response to the use of metrics for career decisions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 478-491.
    4. Mueller-Langer, Frank & Fecher, Benedikt & Harhoff, Dietmar & Wagner, Gert G., 2019. "Replication studies in economics—How many and which papers are chosen for replication, and why?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 62-83.
    5. Leonard E. Burman & W. Robert Reed & James Alm, 2011. "A Call for Replication Studies," Public Finance Review, , vol. 39(1), pages 190-190, January.
    6. Eva Lillquist & Sheldon Green, 2010. "The discipline dependence of citation statistics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(3), pages 749-762, September.
    7. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Cursed by Resources or Institutions?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 1117-1131, August.
    8. Lutz Bornmann & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2019. "Normalisation of citation impact in economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(2), pages 841-884, August.
    9. Colin F. Camerer & Anna Dreber & Felix Holzmeister & Teck-Hua Ho & Jürgen Huber & Magnus Johannesson & Michael Kirchler & Gideon Nave & Brian A. Nosek & Thomas Pfeiffer & Adam Altmejd & Nick Buttrick , 2018. "Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(9), pages 637-644, September.
    10. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    11. Mario Biagioli, 2016. "Watch out for cheats in citation game," Nature, Nature, vol. 535(7611), pages 201-201, July.
    12. Jochen Krauss, 2007. "Journal self-citation rates in ecological sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 73(1), pages 79-89, October.
    13. Maren Duvendack & Richard W. Palmer-Jones & W. Robert Reed, 2015. "Replications in Economics: A Progress Report," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 12(2), pages 164–191-1, May.
    14. Camerer, Colin & Dreber, Anna & Forsell, Eskil & Ho, Teck-Hua & Huber, Jurgen & Johannesson, Magnus & Kirchler, Michael & Almenberg, Johan & Altmejd, Adam & Chan, Taizan & Heikensten, Emma & Holzmeist, 2016. "Evaluating replicability of laboratory experiments in Economics," MPRA Paper 75461, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Birkmaier, Daniel & Wohlrabe, Klaus, 2014. "The Matthew effect in economics reconsidered," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 880-889.
    16. repec:eme:mfppss:v:42:y:2016:i:4:p:324-337 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Richard Van Noorden, 2023. "Medicine is plagued by untrustworthy clinical trials. How many studies are faked or flawed?," Nature, Nature, vol. 619(7970), pages 454-458, July.
    18. repec:osf:socarx:4hmb6_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Lucas C. Coffman & Muriel Niederle, 2015. "Pre-analysis Plans Have Limited Upside, Especially Where Replications Are Feasible," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 81-98, Summer.
    20. Lutz Bornmann & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2020. "Correction to: Normalisation of citation impact in economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 1167-1167, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Coupé, Tom & Reed, W. Robert & Zimmermann, Christian, 2023. "Getting seen: Results from an online experiment to draw more attention to replications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(8).
    2. Hensel, Przemysław G., 2021. "Reproducibility and replicability crisis: How management compares to psychology and economics – A systematic review of literature," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 577-594.
    3. Brinkerink, Jasper & De Massis, Alfredo & Kellermanns, Franz, 2022. "One finding is no finding: Toward a replication culture in family business research," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4).
    4. Tom Coupé & Thomas Logchies & W. Robert Reed, 2024. "Do Replications Really Receive Fewer Citations?," Working Papers in Economics 24/15, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    5. Balafoutas, Loukas & Celse, Jeremy & Karakostas, Alexandros & Umashev, Nicholas, 2025. "Incentives and the replication crisis in social sciences: A critical review of open science practices," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    6. Jean-Louis Combes & Alexandru Minea & Pegdéwendé Nestor Sawadogo, 2019. "Assessing the effects of combating illicit financial flows on domestic tax revenue mobilization in developing countries," CERDI Working papers halshs-02019073, HAL.
    7. Rodrigo Dorantes-Gilardi & Aurora A. Ramírez-Álvarez & Diana Terrazas-Santamaría, 2023. "Is there a differentiated gender effect of collaboration with super-cited authors? Evidence from junior researchers in economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2317-2336, April.
    8. Maurizio Canavari & Andreas C. Drichoutis & Jayson L. Lusk & Rodolfo M. Nayga, Jr., 2018. "How to run an experimental auction: A review of recent advances," Working Papers 2018-5, Agricultural University of Athens, Department Of Agricultural Economics.
    9. Eszter Czibor & David Jimenez‐Gomez & John A. List, 2019. "The Dozen Things Experimental Economists Should Do (More of)," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(2), pages 371-432, October.
    10. Sergei Guriev & Alexander Plekhanov & Konstantin Sonin, 2009. "Development Based on Commodity Revenues?," Working Papers hal-03461797, HAL.
    11. Anna Dreber & Magnus Johannesson & Yifan Yang, 2024. "Selective reporting of placebo tests in top economics journals," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(3), pages 921-932, July.
    12. Nicolas Vallois & Dorian Jullien, 2017. "Replication in experimental economics: A historical and quantitative approach focused on public good game experiments," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01651080, HAL.
    13. Destek, Mehmet Akif & Adedoyin, Festus & Bekun, Festus Victor & Aydin, Sercan, 2023. "Converting a resource curse into a resource blessing: The function of institutional quality with different dimensions," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Mueller-Langer, Frank & Fecher, Benedikt & Harhoff, Dietmar & Wagner, Gert G., 2019. "Replication studies in economics—How many and which papers are chosen for replication, and why?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 62-83.
    15. Selahmi, Basma & Liu, Chunping, 2022. "Institutions and the Resource Curse in GCC countries," MPRA Paper 114924, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Aug 2022.
    16. Kożuchowski, Adrian, 2010. ""Klątwa surowcowa" a czynniki geograficzne i instytucjonalne," Gospodarka Narodowa-The Polish Journal of Economics, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie / SGH Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 2010(4), April.
    17. Nhabinde, Simeão & Heshmati, Almas, 2020. "The Extractive Industry’s impact on Economic Growth in SADC Countries," GLO Discussion Paper Series 656, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. María Victoria Anauati & Sebastian Galiani & Ramiro H. Gálvez, 2020. "Differences In Citation Patterns Across Journal Tiers: The Case Of Economics," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(3), pages 1217-1232, July.
    19. Slesman, Ly, 2022. "The elusive curse of natural resources on happiness," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Malebogo Bakwena & Philip Bodman & Thanh Le & KK Tang, "undated". "Avoiding the Resource Curse: The Role of Institutions," MRG Discussion Paper Series 3209, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • A10 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - General
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • C80 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cbt:econwp:24/18. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Albert Yee (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/decannz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.