TY - JOUR TI - Improving preclinical studies through replications AU - Drude, Natascha Ingrid AU - Martinez Gamboa, Lorena AU - Danziger, Meggie AU - Dirnagl, Ulrich AU - Toelch, Ulf A2 - Rodgers, Peter A2 - Winchester, Catherine A2 - Wuerbel, Hanno VL - 10 PY - 2021 DA - 2021/01/12 SP - e62101 C1 - eLife 2021;10:e62101 DO - 10.7554/eLife.62101 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62101 AB - The purpose of preclinical research is to inform the development of novel diagnostics or therapeutics, and the results of experiments on animal models of disease often inform the decision to conduct studies in humans. However, a substantial number of clinical trials fail, even when preclinical studies have apparently demonstrated the efficacy of a given intervention. A number of large-scale replication studies are currently trying to identify the factors that influence the robustness of preclinical research. Here, we discuss replications in the context of preclinical research trajectories, and argue that increasing validity should be a priority when selecting experiments to replicate and when performing the replication. We conclude that systematically improving three domains of validity – internal, external and translational – will result in a more efficient allocation of resources, will be more ethical, and will ultimately increase the chances of successful translation. KW - replication KW - preclinical research KW - validity KW - reproducibility KW - translation KW - science forum JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -