Community for

Rigor
Validating Research Questions
Visualizing Data
Rigor
Process
Spotting Confirmation Bias
Rigor

Community for

Rigor
Validating Research Questions
Visualizing Data
Rigor
Process
Spotting Confirmation Bias
Rigor
Validating Research Questions
Visualizing Data
Rigor
Process
Spotting Confirmation Bias
Rigor

Community for

Rigor
Validating Research Questions
Visualizing Data
Rigor
Process
Spotting Confirmation Bias
Rigor
Ravens and cartoon objects bounce in place.

Community
For

Rigor
Valid Research Questions
Visualizing Data
Spotting confirmation Bias
Process

Better science
starts here.

Reliable research can be complicated to create. So we're making a network of essential resources to help you better understand the principles and practices of scientific rigor.

Why trust us? Because we’re a team of students, post-grads, professors, and professionals who know what it’s like to be right where you are.
Get started

Answers you want + skills you need = C4R Units

Our themed units are designed to educate and empower researchers across a range of scientific disciplines. Get answers to specific questions and develop the practical skills you need to generate more reliable research.

Check out our first unit, Confirmation Bias, and come back for more soon!
Confirmation Bias
Causation vs Correlation
COMING SOON
Confirmation Bias
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
A raven wearing stylish glasses.
Prof. Konrad
PhD Researcher, UPENN
COURSE CHAPTERS
1. The Extent of the Problem
2. Motive & Method
3. Solbing Rigor Problems
4. The Toolbox
5. Power in Numbers
The Extent of the Problem
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
Motive & Method
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
Solbing Rigor Problems
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
The Toolbox
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
Power in Numbers
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
This content can be edited from Units CMS
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
COURSE CHAPTERS
start unit
A cartoon drawing of a lab environment.A raven wearing goggles.
Reserach Questions
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
A raven wearing stylish glasses.
Prof. Konrad
PhD Researcher, UPENN
COURSE CHAPTERS
1. The Extent of the Problem
2. Motive & Method
3. Solbing Rigor Problems
4. The Toolbox
5. Power in Numbers
The Extent of the Problem
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
Motive & Method
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
Solbing Rigor Problems
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
The Toolbox
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
Power in Numbers
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
The Road to Rigor
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
A raven wearing stylish glasses.
Prof. Konrad
PhD Researcher, UPENN
COURSE CHAPTERS
1. The Extent of the Problem
2. Motive & Method
3. Solbing Rigor Problems
4. The Toolbox
6. Power in Numbers
The Extent of the Problem
This unit will explore rigor issues as a cause of unreliable research, and guide you in identifying and seeking out solutions to isolated rigor issues that you may encounter in lab, as well as collective rigor issues that require scientists to work together to solve.
3
Activities
20
minutes
Confirmation Bias
COMING SOON
Confirmation Bias
The original error.
A raven wearing stylish glasses.
Prof. Konrad
PhD Researcher, UPENN
Confirmation Bias
The original error.
Original draft by
Richard Born
Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
Meeting
Class
Book
1-hour interactive presentation. 3 scaffolding lessons teach how cognitive bias influences research. Participants learn how masking can work to address bias, and some issues that arise when attempting to mask an experiment. Spice up a lab meeting, teach a class, run a skill-building session for your team.
Start meeting
3-hour interactive presentation. 8 scaffolding lessons teach how confirmation bias affects every step of the research process. Participants learn strategies for addressing bias in hypothesis formation, experimental design, and data analysis. Teach one week of class, or run an intensive workshop.
Start Class
COming soon!
Start Book
COURSE CHAPTERS
Unit Overview
Unit Overview
Stop fooling yourself! Diagnosing and Treating Confirmation Bias
1
Activities
1
minutes
Our Biased Brains: Introducing Confirmation Bias
Our Biased Brains: Introducing Confirmation Bias
Tinker with Wason’s 2-4-6 Hypothesis Rule Discovery Task to contend with ambiguous information.
1
Activities
1
minutes
start unit

The Mission of C4R

Driving Cultural Change for Reliable and Reproducible Research

Building a Culture of Rigor
C4R is dedicated to changing research culture by providing comprehensive educational materials, promoting best practices, and fostering a community committed to improving research reliability.
Addressing Rigor Issues in Research
Rigor issues can arise at any stage of the research process, leading to unreliable and irreproducible results that undermine scientific progress and public trust.
Read more ABOUT OUR MISSION

Join these universities and create a C4R network personalized to your students, staff, and school.

C4R

Smith College
Harvard University
Duquesne University
Johns Hopkins University
Virginia Tech
Ohio State University
University of Washington
Boston University
University of Texas at Dallas

Study on your own,
or learn with your whole lab

Good news: Whether you’re working in a group or moving at your own pace, our units are designed to support most learning styles and settings, including alternative expressions by divergent learners.
The hands-on experience you've been waiting to get your hands on
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The hands-on experience you've been waiting to get your hands on
Our interactive Units teach the necessary skills that fall through the cracks.
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Bite-sized content that meets your needs
Learn what you need to know, practice with interactive activities, and save our materials for future reference.
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Build your own curriculum for rigor
Our pre-made presentations work for lab meetings, classes, and individual learning.
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A community of people dedicated to rigor
We host online and in-person events to provide hands-on support in doing more rigorous work.
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Challenge accepted:
inspire more reliable science
through accessible learning.

We’re here to shake up the status quo with curious, collaborative scientists everywhere.
Read more ABOUT C4R
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Challenge accepted:
Inspire generational change through applied skill sharing

We’re on a mission to do more than write a bunch 
of really good research papers—we’re here to shake up the status quo with curious, collaborative scientists everywhere.
Read more ABOUT C4R
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We’ve got big ideas and we’re not afraid to share them.

Discover new educational units, thoughtful op-eds, and conference recaps from our team and other leaders in scientific rigor.
general
Our first unit and the new C4R website!
We've launched a new website! Check it out and see our first unit, confirmation bias.
general
Meet C4R’s Rigorous Raven!
The Rigorous Raven is an important part of the Community for Rigor. They’re an avatar that represents some of scientists’ best features, like intelligence and curiosity, and they’re also a mood.
GO TO NEWS & COMMUNITY

Join these universities and create a C4R network personalized to your students, staff, and school.

C4R

Smith College
Harvard University
Duquesne University
Johns Hopkins University
Virginia Tech
Ohio State University
University of Washington
Boston University
University of Texas at Dallas