Science communication of reproducibility

The importance of reproducibility is a widely discussed topic within academia, and there is an increased awareness about the issues in reproducibility, as we start to more actively tackle it within different fields of the scientific community. Outside of academia, however, reproducibility isn’t as well-known a concept, and there should be increased emphasis on the importance of reproducibility when engaging with the public. The importance and impact of thoughtful science communication is starting to be recognised within academia, with more funding proposals requesting a SciComm plan alongside the research plan. But what about the science communication of reproducibility in and of itself? While understandable that researchers would like to avoid discussing the pitfalls of science for fear that our words will be misconstrued and used in the wrong context, we shouldn’t hide the limitations of science either; this merely upholds the incorrect stereotype of robotic and elitist scientists, which unfortunately still exists to some degree today.