Strengthening Research Rigor and Reproducibility

Date of webinar: Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 1:00pm-2:30pm, Central Time

Due to limited enrollment, this session is not included in the CE Passport.

This workshop, a part of the MLA Research Training Institute curriculum, will discuss current issues and trends in research rigor, transparency, and reproducibility in the health sciences and social sciences, including their applicability to library and information sciences. It focuses on common reasons for lack of replicability, including poor study design, p-hacking and HARKing, and inadequate reporting. It will then describe the solutions that have been proposed, including reporting guidelines, protocol development and registration, data and code sharing, and other techniques to enhance transparency and rigor. 

Due to limited enrollment, this session is not included in the CE Passport.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Understand the principles and importance of research reproducibility in LIS research
• Design, document, and report a research project to support research rigor and transparency
• Select appropriate tools for sharing a research protocol and reporting a study

Audience

Health sciences librarians who are interested in research.

Presenter

Melissa L. Rethlefsen, PhD, MSLS, AHIP, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5322-9368, became Professor and Executive Director of the Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in 2021. Previously, she was Associate Dean, George A. Smathers Libraries, and Fackler Director, Health Science Center Libraries at the University of Florida. In that role, she also partnered with the Clinical & Translational Science Institute at the University of Florida to provide high quality systematic review services to researchers. Prior to that, she was at the University of Utah, where she was the Section Director of the Systematic Review Core in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science, Director of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine MidContinental Region, and Executive Director (Interim) of the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library. She has also worked at the Mayo Clinic’s Learning Resource Center, the Minnesota Department of Health’s RN Barr Library, and the University of Minnesota’s Bio-Medical Library.