Knowledge and Attitudes Among Life Scientists Toward Reproducibility Within Journal Articles: A Research Survey
We constructed a survey to understand how authors and scientists view the issues around reproducibility, focusing on interactive elements such as interactive figures embedded within online publications, as a solution for enabling the reproducibility of experiments. We report the views of 251 researc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frma.2021.678554/full |
| _version_ | 1819022383954001920 |
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| author | Evanthia Kaimaklioti Samota Evanthia Kaimaklioti Samota Robert P. Davey |
| author_facet | Evanthia Kaimaklioti Samota Evanthia Kaimaklioti Samota Robert P. Davey |
| author_sort | Evanthia Kaimaklioti Samota |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We constructed a survey to understand how authors and scientists view the issues around reproducibility, focusing on interactive elements such as interactive figures embedded within online publications, as a solution for enabling the reproducibility of experiments. We report the views of 251 researchers, comprising authors who have published in eLIFE Sciences, and those who work at the Norwich Biosciences Institutes (NBI). The survey also outlines to what extent researchers are occupied with reproducing experiments themselves. Currently, there is an increasing range of tools that attempt to address the production of reproducible research by making code, data, and analyses available to the community for reuse. We wanted to collect information about attitudes around the consumer end of the spectrum, where life scientists interact with research outputs to interpret scientific results. Static plots and figures within articles are a central part of this interpretation, and therefore we asked respondents to consider various features for an interactive figure within a research article that would allow them to better understand and reproduce a published analysis. The majority (91%) of respondents reported that when authors describe their research methodology (methods and analyses) in detail, published research can become more reproducible. The respondents believe that having interactive figures in published papers is a beneficial element to themselves, the papers they read as well as to their readers. Whilst interactive figures are one potential solution for consuming the results of research more effectively to enable reproducibility, we also review the equally pressing technical and cultural demands on researchers that need to be addressed to achieve greater success in reproducibility in the life sciences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:22:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-772bf1e8e59d41c09fb9b3807788f117 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-0537 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:22:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics |
| spelling | doaj.art-772bf1e8e59d41c09fb9b3807788f1172022-12-21T19:16:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics2504-05372021-06-01610.3389/frma.2021.678554678554Knowledge and Attitudes Among Life Scientists Toward Reproducibility Within Journal Articles: A Research SurveyEvanthia Kaimaklioti Samota0Evanthia Kaimaklioti Samota1Robert P. Davey2Earlham Institute, Norwich, United KingdomSchool of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United KingdomEarlham Institute, Norwich, United KingdomWe constructed a survey to understand how authors and scientists view the issues around reproducibility, focusing on interactive elements such as interactive figures embedded within online publications, as a solution for enabling the reproducibility of experiments. We report the views of 251 researchers, comprising authors who have published in eLIFE Sciences, and those who work at the Norwich Biosciences Institutes (NBI). The survey also outlines to what extent researchers are occupied with reproducing experiments themselves. Currently, there is an increasing range of tools that attempt to address the production of reproducible research by making code, data, and analyses available to the community for reuse. We wanted to collect information about attitudes around the consumer end of the spectrum, where life scientists interact with research outputs to interpret scientific results. Static plots and figures within articles are a central part of this interpretation, and therefore we asked respondents to consider various features for an interactive figure within a research article that would allow them to better understand and reproduce a published analysis. The majority (91%) of respondents reported that when authors describe their research methodology (methods and analyses) in detail, published research can become more reproducible. The respondents believe that having interactive figures in published papers is a beneficial element to themselves, the papers they read as well as to their readers. Whilst interactive figures are one potential solution for consuming the results of research more effectively to enable reproducibility, we also review the equally pressing technical and cultural demands on researchers that need to be addressed to achieve greater success in reproducibility in the life sciences.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frma.2021.678554/fullreproducibility in life sciencesreplication of experimentsreproducibility of computational experimentsinteractive figuresreproducibilityreproducibility metrics |
| spellingShingle | Evanthia Kaimaklioti Samota Evanthia Kaimaklioti Samota Robert P. Davey Knowledge and Attitudes Among Life Scientists Toward Reproducibility Within Journal Articles: A Research Survey Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics reproducibility in life sciences replication of experiments reproducibility of computational experiments interactive figures reproducibility reproducibility metrics |
| title | Knowledge and Attitudes Among Life Scientists Toward Reproducibility Within Journal Articles: A Research Survey |
| title_full | Knowledge and Attitudes Among Life Scientists Toward Reproducibility Within Journal Articles: A Research Survey |
| title_fullStr | Knowledge and Attitudes Among Life Scientists Toward Reproducibility Within Journal Articles: A Research Survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Knowledge and Attitudes Among Life Scientists Toward Reproducibility Within Journal Articles: A Research Survey |
| title_short | Knowledge and Attitudes Among Life Scientists Toward Reproducibility Within Journal Articles: A Research Survey |
| title_sort | knowledge and attitudes among life scientists toward reproducibility within journal articles a research survey |
| topic | reproducibility in life sciences replication of experiments reproducibility of computational experiments interactive figures reproducibility reproducibility metrics |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frma.2021.678554/full |
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