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Recognizing and marshalling the pre-publication error correction potential of open data for more reproducible science

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 1597–1599 (2023)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 31 July 2023

The Original Article was published on 15 September 2022

arising from I. Berberi & D. G. Roche Nature Ecology & Evolution https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01879-9 (2022)

We enthusiastically applaud Berberi and Roche’s1 effort to evaluate the effects of journals’ mandatory open data policies on the error correction potential of science. Berberi and Roche conclude that at present there is “no evidence that mandatory open data policies increase error correction”. This may come as a surprise and a disappointment to advocates of open science. However, we suggest that by only addressing effects on post-publication error correction, Berberi and Roche miss the crucial dimension of pre-publication error correction potential in their assessment and may therefore substantially underestimate the true merits of mandatory open data policies.

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Fig. 1: Pre-publication and post-publication error correction potential of mandatory open data policies.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Salazar, D. Meuthen and R. Nagel for commenting on earlier versions of this manuscript. This contribution was inspired by discussions in the Stats Club of Bielefeld University’s Evolutionary Biology Group. This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grants HO 5122/14–1, project number 454606304 (R.S.C.), TRR 212/2 2022, project number 396774617 (A.L.B) and HO 5122/18-1, project number 680350 (E.B.L.) awarded to J.I. Hoffman. M.C.S. was supported by the German Research Foundation through grant number WI1816/18-2 (FOR2432/2).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Rebecca Shuhua Chen, Ane Liv Berthelsen.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

    Rebecca Shuhua Chen, Ane Liv Berthelsen & Etienne Brejon Lamartinière

  2. Department of Ecosystem Modelling, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Matthias Christian Spangenberg

  3. Evolutionary Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

    Tim Schmoll

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  1. Rebecca Shuhua Chen
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  2. Ane Liv Berthelsen
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  3. Etienne Brejon Lamartinière
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  4. Matthias Christian Spangenberg
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Contributions

R.S.C. and A.L.B. conceived the original idea. R.S.C. and A.L.B. took the lead in writing the first draft of the manuscript with substantial contributions from all authors (R.S.C., A.L.B., E.B.L., M.C.S. and T.S.). All authors (R.S.C., A.L.B., E.B.L., M.C.S. and T.S.) discussed the ideas and provided critical feedback on draft versions of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rebecca Shuhua Chen or Ane Liv Berthelsen.

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Chen, R.S., Berthelsen, A.L., Lamartinière, E.B. et al. Recognizing and marshalling the pre-publication error correction potential of open data for more reproducible science. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 1597–1599 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02152-3

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