Reasons for Making Your own Research Reproducible

Replicability and/or reproducibility is an important topic for the Open Science movement. Handling data and methods openly would lead to better replicability and reproducibility of studies. Science that is not reproducible or replicable is of minimal use, owing to flawed experiments or a lack of clarity regarding methodology or data. This means that (public) resources are wasted, and trust in science also suffers (replication crisis).

If you make your research replicable and/or reproducible, you are fulfilling one of the central aspects of good scientific practice. Apart from the fact that this is one of the pillars of science, it also offers you some advantages. The advantage of reproducible procedures include the following:

  • It is easier to identify and correct mistakes and research errors can therefore be avoided.
  • You follow and document how your data and/or your code develop from the beginning of the project and for every change. It is much more difficult and less secure, if you have to reconstruct these developments afterwards.
  • It will be easier to write your work papers,
    and to explain and substantiate the results that you receive to your colleagues.
  • If you submit an article for publication it will be easier to respond to any enquires from reviewers, and it will be easier for the reviewers to understand your research.
  • Your future work will be less uncertain. You give yourself the opportunity to reuse data, code, documents and much more in the future and you thereby bring more continuity into your research.
  • It helps you to develop a reputation as a good researcher.