Stodden to deliver Open Access Week keynote at VA Tech

Open Access Week 2015 will be recognized around the world October 19-25. GSLIS Associate Professor Victoria Stodden will deliver the keynote address for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s OA Week celebration. Her talk, "Scholarly communication in the era of big data and big computation," is sponsored by the Virginia Tech’s University Libraries, Division of Computational Modeling and Data Analytics in the College of Science, Department of Computer Science, Department of Statistics, Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA), and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute. Stodden’s keynote event will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 22, at Davidson Hall.

Abstract: As computation becomes ubiquitous in research, we are faced with new questions regarding the nature of the scholarly record. Massive datasets and complicated analysis software are a routine part of modern scientific research in many fields. How are inferences from computational research verified? How does the research community ensure persistent access to data and software used in the generation of published results? What metadata and tools should travel with these new digital scholarly objects? In this talk, I argue that a frame for addressing these types of questions comes from the scientific method itself: consider what artifacts and information are necessary for the replication of published findings. I will outline the use of reproducibility as a potential framing mechanism for considering a scholarly record that incorporates computational research.

Stodden spoke recently on the topic of reproducibility in science. She gave a talk titled, “Resolving Reproducibility in Computational Science: Tools, Policy, and Culture,” at the University of Arizona on October 8. The lecture was hosted by the Department of Computer Science.

From the abstract: Much of the knowledge being generated with the aid of computers today does not have the same quality as traditional knowledge, and traditional standards of review and dissemination do not generally enable verification of the published findings. In this talk, Stodden will unpack the concept of reproducibility into three sub-concepts: empirical, statistical, and computational. She will then discuss approaches to resolving irreproducibility including: computational tools and publishing modalities, policy initiatives and intellectual property law, dissemination standards, and cultural considerations.

Stodden joined the GSLIS faculty in Fall 2014. She is a leading figure in the area of reproducibility in computational science, exploring how can we better ensure the reliability and usefulness of scientific results in the face of increasingly sophisticated computational approaches to research. Her work addresses a wide range of topics, including standards of openness for data and code sharing, legal and policy barriers to disseminating reproducible research, robustness in replicated findings, cyberinfrastructure to enable reproducibility, and scientific publishing practices. Stodden co-chairs the NSF Advisory Committee for CyberInfrastructure and is a member of the NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Advisory Committee. She also serves on the National Academies Committee on Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process.

Previously an assistant professor of statistics at Columbia University, Stodden taught courses in data science, reproducible research, and statistical theory and was affiliated with the Institute for Data Sciences and Engineering. She coedited two books released in 2014—Privacy, Big Data, and the Public Good: Frameworks for Engagement published by Cambridge University Press and Implementing Reproducible Research published by Taylor & Francis. Stodden earned both her PhD in statistics and her law degree from Stanford University. She also holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of British Columbia and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Ottawa.