rOpenSci

A bit about package review in the open

Julia Gustavsen

A non-profit project (supported by grants and donations) founded in 2011 with the mission:

rOpenSci fosters a culture that values open and reproducible research using shared data and reusable software

What does rOpenSci do?

Creating technical infrastructure in the form of carefully vetted, staff and community-contributed R software tools that lower barriers to working with scientific data sources on the web
Making the right data, tools and best practices more discoverable
Creating social infrastructure through a welcoming and diverse community
Promoting advocacy for a culture of data sharing and reusable software
Building capacity of software users and developers and fostering a sense of pride in their work

>300 rOpenSci packages

Volunteers:

Package authors
Reviewers - peer review of packages
Editors
- find reviewers and oversee process, do some initial checks and correspondence with the package authors

Staff

Author submits a package (creates issue in Github repo)
Automated checks occur
Editor in chief decides if the package is a good fit or not
Handling editor assigned
Handling editor looks for reviewers
Reviewers review package in the open on github
Authors respond and fix things based on comments
Reviewers respond
Once everyone is satisfied the package can be approved and becomes a part of the rOpenSci umbrella.

📝 reviewer since 2015

👷‍♀️ package maintainer since 2019

🧐 editor since 2020

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Read more about reviewing and sign up to be a reviewer: https://devguide.ropensci.org/softwarereviewintro.html#whyreview
consider submitting your scientific package to rOpenSci.