Concerns have been raised in multiple scientific fields in recent years about the reproducibility of published results. Systematic efforts to examine this issue have been undertaken in biomedicine and psychology, but less is known about this important issue in the materials-oriented research that underpins much of modern chemical engineering. Here, we relate a dramatic historical episode from our own institution to illustrate the implications of performing reproducible research and describe two case studies based on literature analysis to provide concrete information on the reproducibility of modern materials-oriented research. The two case studies deal with the properties of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of materials that have generated tens of thousands of papers. We do not claim that research on MOFs is less (or more) reproducible than other subfields; rather, we argue that the characteristics of this subfield are common to many areas of materials-oriented research. We conclude with specific recommendations for action by individual researchers, journal editors, publishers, and research communities.

中文翻译：

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化学工程研究是否存在可重复性问题？

近年来，在多个科学领域中，人们对已发表结果的可重复性提出了担忧。已经在生物医学和心理学方面进行了系统地研究此问题的努力，但是在面向材料的研究中，这个重要问题鲜为人知，该研究是许多现代化学工程的基础。在这里，我们关联了来自我们自己机构的一个戏剧性的历史情节，以说明进行可重复性研究的意义，并描述了两个基于文献分析的案例研究，以提供有关面向现代材料的研究的可重复性的具体信息。这两个案例研究涉及金属有机框架（MOF）的特性，金属有机框架是一类产生了成千上万篇论文的材料。我们并不声称对MOF的研究可重复性比其他子领域低（或更高）。相反，我们认为该子领域的特征在面向材料的研究的许多领域中是共有的。我们以个别研究人员，期刊编辑，出版者和研究团体的具体行动建议作为结尾。