What is replication?
Fig 2
A discovery provides initial evidence that has a plausible range of generalizability (light blue) and little theoretical specificity for testing replicability (dark blue).
With progressive success (left path) theoretical expectations mature, clarifying when replicability is expected. Also, boundary conditions become clearer, reducing the potential generalizability space. A complete theoretical account eliminates generalizability space because the theoretical expectations are so clear and precise that all tests are replication tests. With repeated failures (right path) the generalizability and replicability space both shrink, eventually to a theory so weak that it makes no commitments to replicability.