Computing Environments for Reproducibility: Capturing the "Whole Tale"

TL;DR

The paper introduces the Whole Tale environment, a platform designed to enhance scientific reproducibility by integrating data, code, and research narratives into dynamic, shareable 'living publications' to overcome technical barriers.

Contribution

It presents the design, architecture, and implementation of the Whole Tale platform, enabling seamless integration of data, code, and narratives for reproducible science.

Findings

Successful development of the Whole Tale environment

Supports integration of data, code, and narratives

Facilitates reproducibility and sharing in scientific research

Abstract

The act of sharing scientific knowledge is rapidly evolving away from traditional articles and presentations to the delivery of executable objects that integrate the data and computational details (e.g., scripts and workflows) upon which the findings rely. This envisioned coupling of data and process is essential to advancing science but faces technical and institutional barriers. The Whole Tale project aims to address these barriers by connecting computational, data-intensive research efforts with the larger research process--transforming the knowledge discovery and dissemination process into one where data products are united with research articles to create "living publications" or "tales". The Whole Tale focuses on the full spectrum of science, empowering users in the long tail of science, and power users with demands for access to big data and compute resources. We report here on the design, architecture, and implementation of the Whole Tale environment.