Political Science Researchers Face Surprising Challenges with Code Obsolescence

A new challenge for computational reproducibility emerges: code often becomes outdated quickly. By examining 20 studies from the ISPS Data Archive, we discovered nontrivial errors in seven of them.

Addressing the Problem:

• Researchers face difficulties maintaining old code due to rapid changes in programming languages and libraries.
• Current practices rely heavily on static code/data sharing without considering long-term viability.

Proposed Solution: Active Maintenance Plans:

We advocate for researchers committed to reproducibility to develop active maintenance plans. This involves anticipating future issues with software dependencies rather than just making the initial resources available.

Recommendations:

• Data archives should encourage and reward code maintenance efforts.
• Journals can incorporate requirements for sustainability into their open science policies.

This suggests that ensuring computational reproducibility requires more than passive sharing; it demands foresight and ongoing commitment from researchers.