Who needs replication?

In this paper, the editor of a recent Cambridge University Press book on research methods introduces the concept of replicating previous key studies to throw more light on their reliability and generalizability. Replication research is presented as an accepted method of validating research in the pure sciences by providing comparability between the original and replicated study. The paper considers three scenarios to account for the relative lack of replication research in learned journals and goes on to suggest a number of ways in which this situation can be remedied.