Abstract
The demand for reproducible research is on the rise in disciplines concerned with data analysis and computational methods. Therefore, we reviewed current recommendations for reproducible research and translated them into criteria for assessing the reproducibility of articles in the field of geographic information science (GIScience). Using this criteria, we assessed a sample of GIScience studies from the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE) conference series, and we collected feedback about the assessment from the study authors. Results from the author feedback indicate that although authors support the concept of performing reproducible research, the incentives for doing this in practice are too small. Therefore, we propose concrete actions for individual researchers and the GIScience conference series to improve transparency and reproducibility. For example, to support researchers in producing reproducible work, the GIScience conference series could offer awards and paper badges, provide author guidelines for computational research, and publish articles in Open Access formats.
Highlights
A ‘‘reproducibility crisis’’ has been observed and discussed in several scientific disciplines such as economics (Ioannidis, Stanley & Doucouliagos, 2017), medical chemistry (Baker, 2017), neuroscience (Button et al, 2013), and for scientific studies in general, across various disciplines (Ioannidis, 2005)
We aim to adapt the observations and challenges of reproducible research from other disciplines to the GIScience community, and use these adapted criteria to assess the reproducibility of research produced by members of this field and presented at a conference for the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE), which has organised annual conferences on GIScience topics since 1998
Because of its international reach, broad range of topics, and long-sustained community, we argue that AGILE is in a unique position to take a leading role to promote reproducibility in GIScience
Summary
A ‘‘reproducibility crisis’’ has been observed and discussed in several scientific disciplines such as economics (Ioannidis, Stanley & Doucouliagos, 2017), medical chemistry (Baker, 2017), neuroscience (Button et al, 2013), and for scientific studies in general, across various disciplines (Ioannidis, 2005). Given this motivation, we aim to adapt the observations and challenges of reproducible research from other disciplines to the GIScience community, and use these adapted criteria to assess the reproducibility of research produced by members of this field and presented at a conference for the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE), which has organised annual conferences on GIScience topics since 1998 (https://agile-online.org/index.php/conference/past-agile-conferences; all links last accessed Nov 23 2017). The conference series’s broad topical scope and its notoriety in the GIScience community make it a reasonable starting point to investigate the level of reproducibility in GIScience research. This publication continues a collaboration started at the AGILE 2017 pre-conference workshop ‘‘Reproducible Geosciences Discussion Forum’’ (http://o2r.info/reproducible-agile/2017/)
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