Reproducibility and Transparency versus Privacy and Confidentiality: Reflections from a Data Editor

Abstract

Transparency and reproducibility are often seen in opposition to privacy and confidentiality. Data that need to be kept confidential are seen as an impediment to reproducibility, and privacy would seem to inhibit transparency. I bring a more nuanced view to the discussion, and show, using examples from over 1,000 reproducibility assessments, that confidential data can very well be used in reproducible and transparent research. The key insight is that access to most confidential data, while tedious, is open to hundreds if not thousands of researchers. In cases where few researchers can consider accessing such data in the future, reproducibility services, such as those provided by some journals, can provide some evidence for effective reproducibility even when the same data may not be available for future research.