Implementing code review in the scientific workflow: Insights from ecology and evolutionary biology

Ivimey-Cook, Edward R.; Pick, Joel L.; Bairos-Novak, Kevin R.; Culina, Antica; Gould, Elliot; Grainger, Matthew; Marshall, Benjamin M.; Moreau, David; Paquet, Matthieu; Royauté, Raphaël; Sánchez-Tójar, Alfredo; Silva, Inês; Windecker, Saras M.

doi:10.1111/jeb.14230

Implementing code review in the scientific workflow: Insights from ecology and evolutionary biology

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Ivimey-Cook, Edward R., Pick, Joel L., Bairos-Novak, Kevin R., Culina, Antica, Gould, Elliot, Grainger, Matthew, Marshall, Benjamin M., Moreau, David, Paquet, Matthieu, Royauté, Raphaël, Sánchez-Tójar, Alfredo, Silva, Inês and Windecker, Saras M. (2023) Implementing code review in the scientific workflow: Insights from ecology and evolutionary biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 36 (10). pp. 1347-1356. ISSN 1010-061X

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Abstract

Code review increases reliability and improves reproducibility of research. As such, code review is an inevitable step in software development and is common in fields such as computer science. However, despite its importance, code review is noticeably lacking in ecology and evolutionary biology. This is problematic as it facilitates the propagation of coding errors and a reduction in reproducibility and reliability of published results. To address this, we provide a detailed commentary on how to effectively review code, how to set up your project to enable this form of review and detail its possible implementation at several stages throughout the research process. This guide serves as a primer for code review, and adoption of the principles and advice here will go a long way in promoting more open, reliable, and transparent ecology and evolutionary biology.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: No data is present in the manuscript.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	coding errors,open science,reliability,reproducibility,research process,software development,transparency,ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1100/1105
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?... https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/306696/
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	04 Sep 2025 10:30
Last Modified:	10 Nov 2025 13:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100286
DOI:	10.1111/jeb.14230

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