Reproducible Science Is Vital for a Stronger Evidence Base During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Reproducible research becomes even more imperative as we build the evidence base on SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. In his study, Paez assessed the reproducibility of COVID-19 research during the pandemic, using a case study of population density. He found that most articles that assess the relationship of population density and COVID-19 outcomes do not publicly share data and code, except for a few, including our paper, which he stated “illustrates the importance of good reproducibility practices”. Paez recreated our analysis using our code and data from the perspective of spatial analysis, and his new model came to a different conclusion. The disparity between our and Paez’s findings, as well as other existing literature on the topic, give greater impetus to the need for further research. As there has been near exponential growth of COVID-19 research across a wide range of scientific disciplines, reproducible science is a vital component to produce reliable, rigorous, and robust evidence on COVID-19, which will be essential to inform clinical practice and policy in order to effectively eliminate the pandemic.     

Quid Sit Tyrannus? Seeking to Understand Tyranny within and among Regimes

Waller Newell's Tyrants is a public-spirited book, designed to contribute to a civic educational effort to identify and understand the characteristics of tyranny. But if, as Newell argues, entire countries—and not just individuals—can be tyrannical, does the character of democracy necessarily inoculate itself against tyrannizing over others? The example of Athens, among other ancient cities, should give us reason for caution. The effort to make an understanding of tyranny properly civic seems therefore to be a permanent challenge.