Joss-reviews: [REVIEW]: SCALAR - A Platform for Real-time Machine Learning Competitions on Data Streams

[whedon]

Submitting author: @nedRad88 (Nedeljko Radulovic)
Repository: https://github.com/nedRad88/SCALAR
Version: v0.1
Editor: @galessiorob
Reviewers: @GregaVrbancic, @atanikan, @xiaohk
Archive: Pending

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Reviewers and authors:

Please avoid lengthy details of difficulties in the review thread. Instead, please create a new issue in the target repository and link to those issues (especially acceptance-blockers) by leaving comments in the review thread below. (For completists: if the target issue tracker is also on GitHub, linking the review thread in the issue or vice versa will create corresponding breadcrumb trails in the link target.)

Reviewer instructions & questions

@GregaVrbancic & @atanikan, please carry out your review in this issue by updating the checklist below. If you cannot edit the checklist please:

1. Make sure you're logged in to your GitHub account
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✨ Please start on your review when you are able, and be sure to complete your review in the next six weeks, at the very latest ✨

Review checklist for @GregaVrbancic

Conflict of interest

• [x] I confirm that I have read the JOSS conflict of interest (COI) policy and that: I have no COIs with reviewing this work or that any perceived COIs have been waived by JOSS for the purpose of this review.

Code of Conduct

• [x] I confirm that I read and will adhere to the JOSS code of conduct.

General checks

• [x] Repository: Is the source code for this software available at the repository url?
• [x] License: Does the repository contain a plain-text LICENSE file with the contents of an OSI approved software license?
• [x] Contribution and authorship: Has the submitting author (@nedRad88) made major contributions to the software? Does the full list of paper authors seem appropriate and complete?
• [x] Substantial scholarly effort: Does this submission meet the scope eligibility described in the JOSS guidelines

Functionality

• [ ] Installation: Does installation proceed as outlined in the documentation?
• [ ] Functionality: Have the functional claims of the software been confirmed?
• [ ] Performance: If there are any performance claims of the software, have they been confirmed? (If there are no claims, please check off this item.)

Documentation

• [x] A statement of need: Do the authors clearly state what problems the software is designed to solve and who the target audience is?
• [ ] Installation instructions: Is there a clearly-stated list of dependencies? Ideally these should be handled with an automated package management solution.
• [ ] Example usage: Do the authors include examples of how to use the software (ideally to solve real-world analysis problems).
• [x] Functionality documentation: Is the core functionality of the software documented to a satisfactory level (e.g., API method documentation)?
• [ ] Automated tests: Are there automated tests or manual steps described so that the functionality of the software can be verified?
• [x] Community guidelines: Are there clear guidelines for third parties wishing to 1) Contribute to the software 2) Report issues or problems with the software 3) Seek support

Software paper

• [x] Summary: Has a clear description of the high-level functionality and purpose of the software for a diverse, non-specialist audience been provided?
• [x] A statement of need: Do the authors clearly state what problems the software is designed to solve and who the target audience is?
• [x] State of the field: Do the authors describe how this software compares to other commonly-used packages?
• [x] Quality of writing: Is the paper well written (i.e., it does not require editing for structure, language, or writing quality)?
• [x] References: Is the list of references complete, and is everything cited appropriately that should be cited (e.g., papers, datasets, software)? Do references in the text use the proper citation syntax?

Review checklist for @atanikan

Conflict of interest

• [x] I confirm that I have read the JOSS conflict of interest (COI) policy and that: I have no COIs with reviewing this work or that any perceived COIs have been waived by JOSS for the purpose of this review.

Code of Conduct

• [x] I confirm that I read and will adhere to the JOSS code of conduct.

General checks

• [x] Repository: Is the source code for this software available at the repository url?
• [x] License: Does the repository contain a plain-text LICENSE file with the contents of an OSI approved software license?
• [x] Contribution and authorship: Has the submitting author (@nedRad88) made major contributions to the software? Does the full list of paper authors seem appropriate and complete?
• [x] Substantial scholarly effort: Does this submission meet the scope eligibility described in the JOSS guidelines

Functionality

• [ ] Installation: Does installation proceed as outlined in the documentation?
• [ ] Functionality: Have the functional claims of the software been confirmed?
• [ ] Performance: If there are any performance claims of the software, have they been confirmed? (If there are no claims, please check off this item.)

Documentation

• [x] A statement of need: Do the authors clearly state what problems the software is designed to solve and who the target audience is?
• [ ] Installation instructions: Is there a clearly-stated list of dependencies? Ideally these should be handled with an automated package management solution.
• [ ] Example usage: Do the authors include examples of how to use the software (ideally to solve real-world analysis problems).
• [x] Functionality documentation: Is the core functionality of the software documented to a satisfactory level (e.g., API method documentation)?
• [ ] Automated tests: Are there automated tests or manual steps described so that the functionality of the software can be verified?
• [ ] Community guidelines: Are there clear guidelines for third parties wishing to 1) Contribute to the software 2) Report issues or problems with the software 3) Seek support

Software paper

• [x] Summary: Has a clear description of the high-level functionality and purpose of the software for a diverse, non-specialist audience been provided?
• [x] A statement of need: Do the authors clearly state what problems the software is designed to solve and who the target audience is?
• [x] State of the field: Do the authors describe how this software compares to other commonly-used packages?
• [x] Quality of writing: Is the paper well written (i.e., it does not require editing for structure, language, or writing quality)?
• [x] References: Is the list of references complete, and is everything cited appropriately that should be cited (e.g., papers, datasets, software)? Do references in the text use the proper citation syntax?

Review checklist for @xiaohk

Conflict of interest

• [x] I confirm that I have read the JOSS conflict of interest (COI) policy and that: I have no COIs with reviewing this work or that any perceived COIs have been waived by JOSS for the purpose of this review.

Code of Conduct

• [x] I confirm that I read and will adhere to the JOSS code of conduct.

General checks

• [x] Repository: Is the source code for this software available at the repository url?
• [x] License: Does the repository contain a plain-text LICENSE file with the contents of an OSI approved software license?
• [x] Contribution and authorship: Has the submitting author (@nedRad88) made major contributions to the software? Does the full list of paper authors seem appropriate and complete?
• [x] Substantial scholarly effort: Does this submission meet the scope eligibility described in the JOSS guidelines

Functionality

• [ ] Installation: Does installation proceed as outlined in the documentation?
• [ ] Functionality: Have the functional claims of the software been confirmed?
• [ ] Performance: If there are any performance claims of the software, have they been confirmed? (If there are no claims, please check off this item.)

Documentation

• [ ] A statement of need: Do the authors clearly state what problems the software is designed to solve and who the target audience is?
• [ ] Installation instructions: Is there a clearly-stated list of dependencies? Ideally these should be handled with an automated package management solution.
• [x] Example usage: Do the authors include examples of how to use the software (ideally to solve real-world analysis problems).
• [x] Functionality documentation: Is the core functionality of the software documented to a satisfactory level (e.g., API method documentation)?
• [ ] Automated tests: Are there automated tests or manual steps described so that the functionality of the software can be verified?
• [ ] Community guidelines: Are there clear guidelines for third parties wishing to 1) Contribute to the software 2) Report issues or problems with the software 3) Seek support

Software paper

• [x] Summary: Has a clear description of the high-level functionality and purpose of the software for a diverse, non-specialist audience been provided?
• [x] A statement of need: Do the authors clearly state what problems the software is designed to solve and who the target audience is?
• [x] State of the field: Do the authors describe how this software compares to other commonly-used packages?
• [x] Quality of writing: Is the paper well written (i.e., it does not require editing for structure, language, or writing quality)?
• [x] References: Is the list of references complete, and is everything cited appropriately that should be cited (e.g., papers, datasets, software)? Do references in the text use the proper citation syntax?

[whedon]

Hello human, I'm @whedon, a robot that can help you with some common editorial tasks. @GregaVrbancic, @atanikan it looks like you're currently assigned to review this paper :tada:.

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[whedon]

:point_right::page_facing_up: Download article proof :page_facing_up: View article proof on GitHub :page_facing_up: :point_left:

[whedon]

Reference check summary (note 'MISSING' DOIs are suggestions that need verification):

OK DOIs

- 10.1145/2187671.2187677 is OK
- 10.1109/BigData47090.2019.9006357 is OK

MISSING DOIs

- None

INVALID DOIs

- None

[galessiorob]

@whedon add @xiaohk as reviewer

[whedon]

OK, @xiaohk is now a reviewer

[galessiorob]

👋 @GregaVrbancic , @xiaohk and @atanikan

Thank you all for volunteering as reviewers for this paper! At the top, you'll find individual checklists to work trough, please let me know if something is not clear or if you need any help.

[galessiorob]

Checking in! @GregaVrbancic , @xiaohk and @atanikan please let me know if you need anything on my behalf to get started on the review, thanks!

[GregaVrbancic]

Hi @galessiorob and @nedRad88,
I have made some progress on this review. I have opened several issues on SCALAR repository, so @nedRad88, please take a look at them. Also, please clarify Dihia Boulegane's and Albert Bifet's contributions to the paper since it is not observable from commit history (which can happen sometimes). Additionally, based on the commit history, should @gradoslovar be included as an co-author?

[nedRad88]

Hi @GregaVrbancic,
Thanks for the remarks.
Regarding authorship, the repository was not established back then when the project was started, so that is why Albert and Dihia don't appear in the commit history. If you check the second commit (https://github.com/nedRad88/SCALAR/tree/944fe1ae3eda7e3b2d481f81618dfd71d38cfa92) you can see that the project existed before creating the repository.
Regarding @gradoslovar, he is an external contributor, but yes we can add him as a co-author. Should I update the paper?
Thanks, I will come back to you soon to resolve all other the opened issues.

[galessiorob]

Thanks for getting started @GregaVrbancic!

@nedRad88 please add @gradoslovar as co-author or mention him as a contributor, thanks!

[xiaohk]

Hello @nedRad88. Very helpful and interesting work!

I have added some comments on the issues raised by @GregaVrbancic on SCALAR repo.

My main concern is that the installation instruction is not very easy to follow. It would be much easier for other users to set up their SCALAR if the instruction provides a list of _all exact commands_ that they needs to run in order to set it up.

Other minor comments:

• Either on the README page or on the documentation, I suggest adding some text to discuss the problem and motivation for this software. I found the text on Big Data Challenge very helpful.
• It would be great to have some automated tests and community guidelines
• A typo on the README page: SCALAR let's users → lets

[nedRad88]

Hello @galessiorob , @xiaohk ,
Thanks for the comments.
I have added @gradoslovar as a contributor.
Regarding other issues, we are working on them, I am posting updates on each issue, separately.
We will provide the updated procedure to test the software soon and we are simplifying the installation procedure.

[atanikan]

Hello @nedRad88,

I have a suggestion for easing installation. Please see the issue https://github.com/nedRad88/SCALAR/issues/7
I am still installing will let you know my other comments soon. Great job with the application.

[galessiorob]

Hey @nedRad88 mind commenting on this issue which of the missing items have you added or fixed so the reviewers and I can go back and check? Eg. Tests, statement of purpose, etc.

Thanks!

[nedRad88]

Hey @galessiorob , sorry for the delay. We have updated the community guidelines and installation instructions. Documentation and improved instructions for tests are under way. I will be posting updates in issue's thread. Thanks!

[galessiorob]

@whedon generate pdf

[whedon]

:point_right::page_facing_up: Download article proof :page_facing_up: View article proof on GitHub :page_facing_up: :point_left:

[galessiorob]

@nedRad88 I added a few edit suggestions to the text on the patch-1 branch, feel free to further edit them if you want.

Looking forward to taking this paper across the finish line!

[nedRad88]

Hi @galessiorob , thanks for the suggestions. I have merged them into master. I am finishing the test setup. I expect to have it done in a day or two. Thank you!

[galessiorob]

@whedon generate pdf

[whedon]

:point_right::page_facing_up: Download article proof :page_facing_up: View article proof on GitHub :page_facing_up: :point_left:

[galessiorob]

@nedRad88 the paper looks almost ready to ship, I found a missing space that I added here.

@GregaVrbancic, @atanikan, @xiaohk could you go over all the added changes and check the missing items from your lists if you're satisfied with them?

Thank you all, we are almost there!