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Transparency, Usability, and Reproducibility: Guiding Principles for Improving Comparative Databases Using Primates as Examples

Borries, C.; Sandel, A.; Koenig, A.; Fernandez-Duque, E.; Kamilar, J.; Amoroso, C.; Barton, R.; Bray, J.; Di Fiore, A.; Gilby, I.; Gordon, A.; Mundry, R.; Port, M.; Powell, L.; Pusey, A.; Spriggs, A.; Nunn, C.

Transparency, Usability, and Reproducibility: Guiding Principles for Improving Comparative Databases Using Primates as Examples Thumbnail


Authors

C. Borries

A. Sandel

A. Koenig

E. Fernandez-Duque

J. Kamilar

C. Amoroso

J. Bray

A. Di Fiore

I. Gilby

A. Gordon

R. Mundry

M. Port

L. Powell

A. Pusey

A. Spriggs

C. Nunn



Abstract

Recent decades have seen rapid development of new analytical methods to investigate patterns of interspecific variation. Yet these cutting-edge statistical analyses often rely on data of questionable origin, varying accuracy, and weak comparability, which seem to have reduced the reproducibility of studies. It is time to improve the transparency of comparative data while also making these improved data more widely available. We, the authors, met to discuss how transparency, usability, and reproducibility of comparative data can best be achieved. We propose four guiding principles: 1) data identification with explicit operational definitions and complete descriptions of methods; 2) inclusion of metadata that capture key characteristics of the data, such as sample size, geographic coordinates, and nutrient availability (for example, captive versus wild animals); 3) documentation of the original reference for each datum; and 4) facilitation of effective interactions with the data via user friendly and transparent interfaces. We urge reviewers, editors, publishers, database developers and users, funding agencies, researchers publishing their primary data, and those performing comparative analyses to embrace these standards to increase the transparency, usability, and reproducibility of comparative studies.

Citation

Borries, C., Sandel, A., Koenig, A., Fernandez-Duque, E., Kamilar, J., Amoroso, C., …Nunn, C. (2016). Transparency, Usability, and Reproducibility: Guiding Principles for Improving Comparative Databases Using Primates as Examples. Evolutionary Anthropology, 25(5), 232-238. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21502

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 10, 2016
Online Publication Date Oct 18, 2016
Publication Date Oct 18, 2016
Deposit Date Sep 26, 2016
Publicly Available Date Oct 18, 2017
Journal Evolutionary Anthropology
Print ISSN 1060-1538
Electronic ISSN 1520-6505
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 25
Issue 5
Pages 232-238
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21502

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Borries, C., Sandel, A. A., Koenig, A., Fernandez-Duque, E., Kamilar, J. M., Amoroso, C. R., Barton, R. A., Bray, J., Di Fiore, A., Gilby, I. C., Gordon, A. D., Mundry, R., Port, M., Powell, L. E., Pusey, A. E., Spriggs, A. and Nunn, C. L. (2016), Transparency, usability, and reproducibility: Guiding principles for improving comparative databases using primates as examples. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 25(5): 232-238, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21502. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.





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