FReD Apps - FORRT Replication Database

Static web applications for exploring and annotating replication studies from the FORRT Replication Database (FReD).

Apps

FReD Explorer

Browse and analyze replication studies with interactive visualizations.

Features:

• Filter studies by search terms, minimum power, and source project
• Compare original and replication effect sizes with scatterplots
• View forest plots for meta-analytic visualization
• Explore outcomes by decade and discipline
• Choose from 8 different success criteria for assessing replication outcomes
• Export data as CSV or Excel

FLoRA Annotator

Annotate reference lists with replication information.

Features:

• Input DOIs via text paste or file upload (PDF, BibTeX, RIS, plain text)
• Automatic DOI lookup via CrossRef for references without DOIs
• Match references to the FLoRA database
• Check for retracted articles via Retraction Watch
• Generate shareable reports in HTML or Markdown
• Browse and manually select studies from the full database

Tech Stack

Frontend

• Vanilla JavaScript - No framework dependencies
• HTML5/CSS3 - Responsive design with CSS custom properties for theming
• Plotly.js (v2.27.0) - Interactive charts (scatterplots, bar charts, forest plots)
• DataTables (v1.13.7) - Sortable, searchable data tables with export functionality
• jQuery (v3.7.1) - DOM manipulation (required by DataTables)

Data Processing

• R - Preprocessing scripts using the FReD R package
• JSON - Pre-computed data files for fast loading

Deployment

• GitHub Pages - Static site hosting
• GitHub Actions - Automated deployment and weekly data updates

Project Structure

FReD-apps/
├── index.html              # Landing page
├── explorer/               # FReD Explorer app
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── css/explorer.css
│   └── js/
│       ├── app.js
│       ├── state.js
│       ├── filters.js
│       ├── column-config.js
│       └── charts/         # Visualization modules
├── annotator/              # FLoRA Annotator app
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── css/annotator.css
│   └── js/
│       ├── app.js
│       ├── doi-parser.js
│       ├── retraction-checker.js
│       └── report-generator.js
├── shared/                 # Shared resources
│   ├── css/theme.css       # Common theme and styles
│   ├── js/
│   │   ├── data-loader.js
│   │   ├── success-criteria.js
│   │   ├── theme-toggle.js
│   │   └── utils.js
│   └── images/
├── data/                   # Pre-computed JSON data
│   ├── explorer-data.json
│   └── flora-data.json
├── preprocessing/          # R scripts for data generation
│   ├── process-explorer-data.R
│   └── process-flora-data.R
└── .github/workflows/
    └── update-data.yml     # Weekly data refresh

Local Development

Quick Start

Start a local HTTP server to test the apps. Any static server will work:

Python:

python3 -m http.server 8080

Node.js (with npx):

npx serve .

PHP:

php -S localhost:8080

Then open http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

Why a Server is Required

These apps cannot be run by opening HTML files directly (file:// protocol) because:

• JavaScript modules and fetch requests require HTTP
• Cross-origin restrictions apply to local files

Data Updates

Data is automatically updated weekly via GitHub Actions:

1. The update-data.yml workflow runs every Sunday at 2:00 AM UTC
2. R preprocessing scripts fetch the latest data from the FReD package
3. JSON files in data/ are regenerated and committed if changes are detected
4. GitHub Pages automatically redeploys from the main branch

To manually trigger a data update, use the "Run workflow" button in the GitHub Actions tab.

Related Resources

• FORRT Replication Hub - Main project page
• FReD R Package - Full-featured R package with real-time calculations
• FReD on OSF - Raw dataset and documentation
• FORRT - Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training

License

Code: MIT License

Data (FReD and FLoRA): CC BY 4.0

Part of the FORRT project.