[graeham]

This would be a pretty big step - right now there is a big incentive to be first to publish. Often the researchers who would be doing the replication are competitors, who are racing to publish their results first.

Part of publishing is to put it out for discussion. It should be the best effort and thought to be true, but science is about the evolution of knowledge. Very few things are completely understood, especially in biological and micro/nano fields.