Amid robust debate over the trustworthiness of scientific findings in a number of different fields, a multidisciplinary group of scholars from different institutions has proposed a systems-level framework for evaluating the trustworthiness of research findings.
The framework was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by a group of researchers including Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania.
The researchers outline an overall “systems approach” that includes seven components to assess whether research findings are trustworthy: Whether the research is: 1) accountable; 2) evaluable, and 3) has been evaluated; 4) well formulated; 5) controls bias; 6) reduces error; and 7) whether the claims are warranted by the evidence.
The authors write: “By adhering to practices that promote the trustworthiness of research findings, researchers contribute to a cumulative body of knowledge that can be relied upon by other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the public. In a world of misinformation, ideological campaigns, and motivated reasoning, producing trustworthy research findings may not be sufficient on its own to earn trust, but it is a necessary feature of an enterprise that is relentlessly truth-seeking.”
“As we all increasingly recognize the need for greater *earning* of trust in science, we recognize that we want *merited* trust by generating trustworthy science,” co-author David Allison, a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, wrote on LinkedIn. “Rigor, reproducibility, transparency, and clear honest communication are our touchstones. This paper is one small stepping stone along the way to the touchstones.”
For a more complete summary of the paper, see the news release at the Center for Open Science, whose executive director, Brian A. Nosek, is the lead author.
“A framework for assessing the trustworthiness of scientific findings” was published Feb. 3, 2026, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to Jamieson, Nosek, and Allison, the co-authors are Marcia McNutt and A. Beau Nielsen (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), and Susan M. Wolf (University of Minnesota). All of the authors serve on the National Academies’ Strategic Council for Research Excellence, Integrity, and Trust; however, the paper is not an official publication of the National Academies.
