JOURNAL VERIFICATION FRAMEWORK

This framework is designed to help authors complying with the State Politics and Policy Quarterly (SPPQ) data verification policy to prepare their materials for verification by offering best practices and tips on package preparation, highlighting common errors, providing templates and checklists and ultimately shedding light on the verification process and what is needed. Authors may follow the framework from start to finish to prepare their materials, which we recommend for first time authors, or authors may want to jump to sections of interest as they prepare certain materials (e.g., command files or README). This information is also relevant to authors wishing to prepare data packages that support transparency and computational reproducibility.

The framework begins with the journal data verification policy, guidelines and verification process, moving into a step-by-step approach to preparing your materials, delving into each material type and their requirements, and ending with common issues and frequently asked questions. Throughout the framework, we have embedded best practices and advice based on our experiences at the Odum Institute in reviewing verification materials for quantitative results since 2015.

Almost since the inception of the verification policy, the average number of resubmissions of verification materials has been 2 resubmissions. This framework will aid authors in submitting the appropriate materials at the start of this process which will hopefully lower the average number of resubmissions going forward.