Prof. Dr. Johannes Breuer, head of the CAIS research department “Research Data & Methods,” together with his co-authors, has published an article titled “Contextual Changes, Credible Conclusions? A Direct and Conceptual Replication of Shen et al.’s (2019) Study on Online Image Credibility” in the journal Media Psychology.
In their work, they replicate Shen et al.’s (2019) study on online image credibility through two in-depth replications to systematically evaluate both forms. For that, they consider online information credibility as rapidly changing research context, serving as signpost for people to regulate cognitive capacities and navigate available information. The authors assess the robustness and generalizability of the original findings through a direct (identical stimuli, US sample) and a conceptual (AI-generated fake images, German sample) replication and were able to successfully replicate 71% of the empirical claims of the original study through the direct replication and 86% through the conceptual replication. Their reflections echo recent calls for more open science and dedicated data editors.
Haim, M., Knöpfle, P., & Breuer, J. (2025). Contextual Changes, Credible Conclusions? A Direct and Conceptual Replication of Shen et al.’s (2019) Study on Online Image Credibility. Media Psychology, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2025.2595452