The ManyBabies project was born committed to Open Science and to collaborative research practices that allow teams to test hypotheses about infant development that individual labs could perhaps never adequately test.

MB’s collaborative nature implies that all project decisions (e.g., research question, study design, stimulus creation, piloting, data collection, analysis, interpretation of the findings, and writing) are made on a consensus-based approach.

We strive for an environment of trust and equality that can engage researchers from a broad spectrum of backgrounds. To learn more about MB’s vision for the role of large-scale collaborations, see Frank et al. (2017) and Byers-Heinlein et al. (2020).

Definitions and Roles

ManyBabies activities are guided by the principles of:

  • Transparency: All decisions in a MB project, from design to publication, are as transparent as possible
  • Collective governance: When possible and feasible, decisions are made jointly and transparently
  • Inclusivity and diversity: MB explicitly encourages efforts to increase diversity. This includes active applications for funding to assist laboratories from under-represented communities to participate, outreach efforts, and planning workshops
  • Ethical research: MB projects are committed to best practices and high ethical standards
  • Respect: Everyone agrees to a general Code of Conduct which ensures respectful interactions

See MB’s Code of Conduct for a full description of our pledge, standards, responsibilities, and scope.

ManyBabies projects aim to test hypotheses about:

  • Validity: Assess the replicability, generalizability, and robustness of key findings in infancy (effect + effect size + moderators) in consensus paradigms. Note that these paradigms are not necessarily exact replications of seminal studies
  • Theory: Understand infant development across a wide range of ages and experiences (e.g., language and cultural background)
  • Methods: Quantify sources of variability across labs and establish best practices
  • Diversity: Increase diversity of participants, researchers, & research questions

Learn more about our projects and get involved!

ManyBabies collaborators come from 40+ nations on 6 continents. They can serve as:

  • Governing Board Members: Responsible for governance decisions, including decisions about funding, new projects, and other project-wide concerns (see current members here)
  • Project Leads: Coordinate all aspects of a study (e.g., setting up work groups, guidelines) and ensure that all aspects adhere to the MB Code of Conduct (see current Project Leads here)
  • Data Contributors: Collect data following an experimental protocol
  • Project Contributors: Create stimuli, protocols, analysis code, and any other relevant tasks

See more detailed descriptions of roles and responsibilities of each collaborator type, authorship guidelines, policies on derived presentations, and get involved in ManyBabies projects.

Learn how to join the MB dashboard / map or update your information.

Funding

ManyBabies gratefully acknowledges funding from:

Awards

Get involved

We encourage everyone who is interested in developmental research to get involved! Access to infants/infant lab is NOT a prerequisite for contributing to an MB project.

All collaborators are encouraged to join the MB Contributor Dashboard or update your information.