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name: aaag-transparency-and-data description: Use when handling data documentation, sharing, and spatial-data ethics for an Annals of the American Association of Geographers manuscript — provenance (sources, projections, processing), reproducibility, and geoprivacy / human-subjects protection. Prepares documentation; it does not over-state a verification gate the policy does not impose.

Transparency & Spatial Data (aaag-transparency-and-data)

The Annals (Taylor & Francis, for the AAG) follows publisher and disciplinary norms for data availability and research integrity rather than (as at some journals) a mandatory, editor-run replication check before publication. The right posture is: document spatial-data provenance thoroughly, share what you ethically can, and protect location privacy. Confirm the current data- availability / sharing policy on the Taylor & Francis journal page (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准).

When to trigger

• Preparing data documentation, a data-availability statement, or supplementary materials
• Deciding what spatial data can be shared given geoprivacy, IRB, license, or proprietary limits
• Documenting qualitative or restricted location data so claims remain credible
• A reviewer asked how others could verify or reproduce the spatial analysis

Spatial-data provenance (the geography-specific core)

Document enough that another geographer could locate, re-project, and rebuild the dataset:

• Sources & licenses for every layer (census, satellite, OSM, administrative, field-collected), with access dates and terms.
• Projection / CRS and any re-projection; areal units and how they were defined or aggregated.
• Processing chain — classification, geocoding, spatial joins, resampling, filtering — as a logged, ordered pipeline, not "cleaned in GIS."
• Temporal alignment — vintages of layers and how they were harmonized.

Geoprivacy & human subjects (overrides sharing)

• Do not publish precise locations of identifiable individuals/households; use geographic masking (aggregation, jittering, areal reporting) and state the method.
• IRB/consent for interviews, fieldwork, and participatory mapping; protect informant and site identity.
• Sensitive sites (sacred, endangered-species, conflict) may require deliberate spatial coarsening — say so.

Reproducibility (good practice even without a pre-publication gate)

• Master script regenerates every table, figure, and map from raw/constructed data.
• README/codebook: provenance, projections, construction steps, and how to reproduce each exhibit.
• Seeds set for stochastic steps; software/package versions pinned (renv.lock / requirements.txt).
• Restricted data: a data-availability statement explaining what is shared, what is not and why, and an access path; provide synthetic/masked data so code can run where feasible.

Transparency posture by data type (geography-specific)

Because the Annals spans four areas, the availability expectation lands differently on different evidence. This grid keeps the posture honest; confirm mechanics against the current T&F policy.

Data type	Typically shareable	Restricted	Provenance to document
Public geospatial (census, OSM)	data + code	none	source, vintage, CRS, join keys
Satellite / DEM	processing code + IDs	bulk imagery (host link instead)	sensor, dates, correction, resolution
Field GPS of people/sites	masked/aggregated data	exact coordinates	masking method, IRB, consent
Interviews / ethnography	coding scheme	identifiable transcripts/locations	anonymization, composite-disclosure note
Proprietary/licensed layers	code + access path	the layer itself	license terms, how to obtain

Checklist

• Every layer's source, license, access date, and CRS documented
• Processing pipeline logged (classification/geocoding/joins/resampling)
• Geoprivacy handled — masking method stated for identifiable locations
• IRB/consent documented for human-subjects and field/participatory work
• Master script + README + seeds + pinned versions (where quantitative)
• Data-availability statement drafted; access path / synthetic data for restricted layers
• Current T&F data policy confirmed (do not assert a gate it does not impose)

Anti-patterns

• "Data cleaned in GIS" with no provenance, CRS, or processing log
• Publishing exact coordinates of vulnerable people or sensitive sites
• Claiming open data that license or geoprivacy will not permit
• Asserting an editor-verified replication mandate the policy does not state
• Un-seeded, unpinned code that "works on my machine"

Output format

【Provenance】sources + licenses + CRS + processing log documented? [Y/N]
【Geoprivacy】masking/aggregation for identifiable locations? [Y/N/NA]
【Human subjects】IRB/consent handled? [Y/N/NA]
【Reproducibility】master script + README + seeds + versions? [Y/N]
【Data-availability statement】shared / restricted (why) / access path / synthetic?
【Policy check】current T&F data policy confirmed? [Y/N/待核实]
【Next】aaag-review-process

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — reproducibility tooling, repositories, and geomasking options
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — T&F data-availability and AAG ethics references