Scientists know that we should rarely draw conclusions about any scientific issue based on any single publication—the scientific process depends on replication and is iterative by design. To get to an “answer,” we have to look at the overall literature on a subject. Our understanding changes as knowledge accrues. We keep in mind that we do not know which findings will be replicated and which will, in the long run, prove to be cumulatively correct.
How, therefore, do we distinguish, in the moment, the science we should believe? What evidence should we trust?
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