On the Realm of Reproducibility and Open GIScience

With the converging realms of spatial analysis and the open source world, accessibility and the freedom for all to engage in GIScience are increasing. This new accessibility has incredible implications for working toward finding solutions to the reproducibility crisis in geography.

In the past, with advanced spatial analysis software and source code being exclusive commodities, the academics of spatial analysis were left to a smaller sample of prestigious individuals who could claim dominion over the progress of the discipline. This has proved to be dangerous since geography left without review has a powerful capacity to misrepresent findings to push the agenda of a single narrative. As identified in the article “Show Me the Code: Spatial Analysis and Open Source” by Sergio Rey, “every level of the spatial data infrastructure stack is now covered by open source projects,” therefore, the emergence of the open source world into the discipline of spatial analysis means that research can now be held accountable leading to a more authentic representation of what is published as “true” (Rey 2009:196).

Since anyone has access to software that is as powerful as previous commercial software, any aspiring geographer can execute the same level of spatial analysis which enables the capacity for the reproducibility of unchecked research. This simultaneously works to deconstruct the hegemonic structures that enable these elitist academics to maintain their hold on the discipline and provides the emerging geographer with increased potential for upward mobility.

While open-source GIS provides the tools to be able to solve problems of reproducibility and replicability in geography, what is further needed to enter a true world of open-source GIScience is the expectation that all studies should publish fully transparent workflows for the spatial analyses that they are performing. Without an established framework for publishing open-source code and the methodological steps in a study, the potential for using open-source GIS software for furthering the development of knowledge structures is restricted.

Ultimately, a culture of publishing for profit prevents a reproducible standard from becoming the norm despite active government efforts to create open science standards. Open-source GIS remains a threat to the elites looking to claim full credit for publishing any new information and be the sole beneficiary of the rewards that come with publishing new influential studies. To comprehensively enable the success of an open-source framework, networks, and agreements for how research is funded must first be established.