Packaging data analytical work reproducibly using R (and friends)
Author and article information
Abstract
Computers are a central tool in the research process, enabling complex and large scale data analysis. As computer-based research has increased in complexity, so have the challenges of ensuring that this research is reproducible. To address this challenge, we review the concept of the research compendium as a solution for providing a standard and easily recognisable way for organising the digital materials of a research project to enable other researchers to inspect, reproduce, and extend the research. We investigate how the structure and tooling of software packages of the R programming language are being used to produce research compendia in a variety of disciplines. We also describe how software engineering tools and services are being used by researchers to streamline working with research compendia. Using real-world examples, we show how researchers can improve the reproducibility of their work using research compendia based on R packages and related tools.
Cite this as
2018. Packaging data analytical work reproducibly using R (and friends) PeerJ Preprints 6:e3192v2 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.3192v2Author comment
Updated the figures to replace terminal-style text with more readable hi-res vector graphics
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Additional Information
Competing Interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Author Contributions
Ben Marwick conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Carl Boettiger conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper.
Lincoln Mullen conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper.
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding data availability:
The research in this article did not generate any data or code. We describe several case studies.
Funding
BM was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT140100101). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
