Computational Reproducibility in Archaeological Research: Basic Principles and a Case Study of Their Implementation

Title: Computational Reproducibility in Archaeological Research: Basic Principles and a Case Study of Their Implementation
Creator(s): Marwick, Ben
Date: 2017
Is Part Of: Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
Volume: 24
Issue: 2
Pages: 424-450
Language: eng
ISSN: 1573-7764
Short Title: Computational Reproducibility in Archaeological Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9272-9
URI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9272-9
Zotero BiDiAr: https://www.zotero.org/groups/5293298/bidiar/items/J5NX3NTI/item-list
Abstract: The use of computers and complex software is pervasive in archaeology, yet their role in the analytical pipeline is rarely exposed for other researchers to inspect or reuse. This limits the progress of archaeology because researchers cannot easily reproduce each other’s work to verify or extend it. Four general principles of reproducible research that have emerged in other fields are presented. An archaeological case study is described that shows how each principle can be implemented using freely available software. The costs and benefits of implementing reproducible research are assessed. The primary benefit, of sharing data in particular, is increased impact via an increased number of citations. The primary cost is the additional time required to enhance reproducibility, although the exact amount is difficult to quantify.
cited by: The good, the bad and the ugly: evaluating Open Science practices in archaeology