If you want reproducible science, the software needs to be open source.
Originally at https://meta-science.tumblr.com/post/19355179912/if-you-want-reproducible-science-the-software-needs-to-be-open-source
If you want reproducible science, the software needs to be open source.
This is an article summarizing this Nature editorial, which is definitely worth reading as well.
From the link:
Modern scientific and engineering research relies heavily on computer programs, which analyze experimental data and run simulations. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find a scientific paper (outside of pure theory) that didn’t involve code in some way. Unfortunately, most code written for research remains closed, even if the code itself is the subject of a published scientific paper. According to an editorial in Nature, this hinders reproducibility, a fundamental principle of the scientific method.
… Reproducibility becomes more difficult when results rely on software. The authors of the editorial argue that, unless research code is open sourced, reproducing results on different software/hardware configurations is impossible. The lack of access to the code also keeps independent researchers from checking minor portions of programs (such as sets of equations) against their own work.