Replicability and the public/private divide

TL;DR

This paper discusses the importance of data replicability in scientometric research, examining the implications of access restrictions and the evolving political economy influencing the field's analytical practices.

Contribution

It critically evaluates the role of proprietary data in scientific reproducibility and explores how professionalization impacts the field's analytical and political dimensions.

Findings

Access restrictions hinder reproducibility

In-house data processing adds analytical value

Emerging political economy influences scientometric practices

Abstract

In a recent letter, Carlos Vilchez-Roman criticizes Bornmann et al. (2015) for using data which cannot be reproduced without access to an in-house version of the Web-of-Science (WoS) at the Max Planck Digital Libraries (MPDL, Munich). We agree with the norm of replicability and therefore returned to our data. Is the problem only a practical one of automation or does the in-house processing add analytical value to the data? Is the newly emerging situation in any sense different from a further professionalization of the field? In our opinion, a political economy of science indicators has in the meantime emerged with a competitive dynamic that affects the intellectual organization of the field.