Preserving the principle of openness in modern scientific research

Guardian : Although it has long been accepted that scientists must provide enough information in their publications that others can replicate the results, the torrents of data now being generated are often not included in their final papers. To address that issue, the UK’s Royal Society has published a report, " Science as an open enterprise ,” in which it “considers how the conduct and communication of science needs to adapt to this new era of information technology.” Recommendations include scientists being more open among themselves and the public, increased recognition for data gathering and analysis, the development of common standards for sharing information, and the creation of new software tools to analyze the ever-growing amounts of data. However, one essential aspect has been overlooked, notes John Naughton, writing for the Guardian: The software written by the researchers to process the data also needs to be published so that it, too, can be checked.