Metascience Study Group

The study of the practices of science and their findings—including the history, philosophy, and sociology of science—is often called “metascience”. While these academic fields have developed distinct bodies of expertise, they have had limited interaction with more practice-oriented domains aiming to improve science, such as science policy and research integrity.

Since the late 2010s and the onset of the ‘reproducibility crisis’, there has been a growing awareness of the dysfunctions within scientific enterprise. In response, the ‘metascience movement’ has gained momentum, particularly in the US and Europe. Now, ‘metascience’ goes beyond merely describing science; it seeks to improve science as a social activity in various aspects—including the allocation of research funding, the dissemination (including science journalology) and integration of knowledge, the evaluation methods, the diversity of researchers, and the institutional culture of research.

In light of these development, the Metascience Study Group Japan was launched in August 2024 as an online forum for researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. It offers a space for loosely connected participants to share perspectives. Since its founding, the group has hosted five online seminars and one in-person workshop as part of its activities for the 2024 fiscal year in Japan. Moving forward, we aim to broaden our activities and foster broader collaboration.

Coming soon!

We propose making a map of metascience.

• メタサイエンス研究会ワークショップ（2025年3月1日）

• 第5回メタサイエンス勉強会（2025年2月19日）「科学史から見たメタサイエンス 」

• 第4回メタサイエンス勉強会（2025年1月23日）「生成AIと研究のこれから」 

• 第3回メタサイエンス勉強会（2024年12月11日）「科学政策と科学史・科学哲学」 

• 第2回メタサイエンス勉強会（2024年11月19日）「「再現性」とその先を考える」 

• 第1回メタサイエンス勉強会（2024年8月29日）「科学哲学から科学政策・研究公正を考える」

Organisers (*: founding members)

• Rei Nouchi* 　 Associate Professor, Hiroshima University researchmap

• Ukyo Shimizu*　 Lecturer, University of Miyazaki researchmap　

• Tadafumi Kubota Research Fellow, Kyoto University (Apr 2025-)  researchmap

Managing Support

• Ryuichi Maruyama Editor (-Mar 2025)　https://lit.link/ryuichimaruyama