[2] If the subject matter of a theoretical statement consists of one or multiple theories, it would also be called a meta-theory.
The study of metatheory became widespread during the 20th century after its application to various topics, including scientific linguistics and its concept of metalanguage.
Meta-research during the ensuing decades found many methodological flaws, inefficiencies, and bad practices in the research of numerous scientific topics.
These measures include the pre-registration of scientific studies and clinical trials as well as the founding of organizations such as CONSORT and the EQUATOR Network that issue guidelines for methods and reporting.
There are continuing efforts to reduce the misuse of statistics, to eliminate perverse incentives from academia, to improve the peer review process, to reduce bias in scientific literature, and to increase the overall quality and efficiency of the scientific process.
Introduced in 20th-century philosophy as a result of the work of the German mathematician David Hilbert, who in 1905 published a proposal for proof of the consistency and completeness of mathematics, creating the topic of metamathematics.
His hopes for the success of this proof were disappointed by the work of Kurt Gödel, who in 1931, used his incompleteness theorems to prove the goal of consistency and completeness to be unattainable.