Toward the Geoscience Paper of the Future: Best practices for documenting and sharing research from data to software to provenance

TLDR

Geoscientists now operate in a data‑rich environment where computational research cannot be fully captured by traditional publications, yet publishing digital objects enables scientists to manage their research products as valuable, openly accessible assets that broaden access for others. The Geoscience Paper of the Future (GPF) presents an approach to fully document, share, and cite all research products—including data, software, and computational provenance. This article proposes best practices for GPF authors to make data, software, and methods openly accessible, citable, and well documented. Improving documentation and dissemination of research will accelerate scientific discovery by enhancing others’ ability to build upon published work.

Abstract

Abstract Geoscientists now live in a world rich with digital data and methods, and their computational research cannot be fully captured in traditional publications. The Geoscience Paper of the Future (GPF) presents an approach to fully document, share, and cite all their research products including data, software, and computational provenance. This article proposes best practices for GPF authors to make data, software, and methods openly accessible, citable, and well documented. The publication of digital objects empowers scientists to manage their research products as valuable scientific assets in an open and transparent way that enables broader access by other scientists, students, decision makers, and the public. Improving documentation and dissemination of research will accelerate the pace of scientific discovery by improving the ability of others to build upon published work.