How to edit the directory?

This description is about the listed methods and their evaluations seen in the Topics and Methods parts. If you want to join the discussion in the Forum, feel free to join the mailing list and send any message that is in line with the aim of the mailing list.

Who can edit the directory?

Only professionals working in the numerical cognition area can edit the directory and can vote on the methods.

Technical implementation of the directory

Technically, the directory can be edited in a GitLab project (https://gitlab.com/numerical-cognition/methods-editor), not in the public site directly (http://www.numericalcognitionmethods.org). The information from the GitLab project is then processed and transferred to the public website by an automatic script. (Note that currently, the script does not run automatically, so it might require a few hours or days until your edits are visible on the public site.) The GitLab project site is visible only to the editors, while the public website is visible to anyone.

The GitLab project technically uses two parts:

• the topics list part with the methods listed for all topics (it is technically a wiki in the GitLab project, and it is visible as Topics on the public website)
• the description with references and evaluation (discussion and votes) part (it is technically an issue tracker in the GitLab project, and it is visible as Methods on the public website).

How to register for editing?

To edit the directory (i.e., to add new methods and to comment and vote on those methods), a GitLab account should be sent to the admins:

• Eligible users must have a PhD degree or a PhD in progress, and the topic of their PhD or their work must be at least partly related to numerical cognition.
• Because the directory is transparent and open, make sure to set the following data for your account:
  • The GitLab account should include the real name of the expert (which name is used in publications)
  • The Profile should include the institution website or professional website, etc., with which other users can find who that user is (i.e., proposers and/or reviewers cannot be anonymous)
  • Optionally, you can add any further public information to your account
  • We appreciate if you add a photo of yourself to your account

Then, the GitLab user will be added to the GitLab project and will be able to add content to the directory.

How to edit the directory?

Anyone with editing access can add methods, review a method, and vote on it. All edits and votes are public. There is no hidden part of the directory.

The editor interface of the directory is available at https://gitlab.com/numerical-cognition/methods-editor

Should/can I add a method?

• The item should include a method for numerical cognition. (We might extend the scope depending on the needs and feedback of users.)
• You might add either your method or someone else’s methods.
• Add work to the directory if it introduces new methods or includes new considerations for older methods. Do not add a work if it is a trivial implementation of some common methods (e.g., an Indo-Arabic number is displayed on the screen for a specific time with a specific font).
• The directory is a list of methods, so it does not store the method descriptions themselves; it only includes (a) a short description of the methods with references to the detailed descriptions and (b) reviews of the methods by colleagues. Store your detailed description somewhere else, and when you add the short description of your method to the present directory, the appropriate link or other reference to the edtailed description should be added.

Adding methods

Add the method to the methods (issue) part:

1. Open a new issue
   • To open a new issue, go to the Issues part (menu on left) and click on New issue (top right).
2. Add a brief description and reference of the method – the same text can be copied here from the wiki part.
   1. Click on “Choose a template” and choose method_description.
   2. Add a title
   3. Add the description - use the template form
      • Describe the method briefly, usually in only a few sentences.
      • Add the appropriate reference where the method is described in detail, e.g., journal paper, book chapter, preprint, etc. Use either the APA style citation (e.g., simply use: Moyer and Landauer, 1967) or the APA style reference (e.g., Moyer, R. S., & Landauer, T. K. (1967). Time required for Judgements of Numerical Inequality. Nature, 215(5109), 1519–1520. https://doi.org/10.1038/2151519a0), and always add either a DOI or a URL when available, so the reference should be straightforward and one click away for the readers.
      • Add the authors of the list (the list of the authors should be a separate paragraph beginning with “Authors:”)
   4. To format the text, use the toolbar at the top right part of the Content area or check the description at the Markdown link below the Content area. Check the preview to see if it looks OK.

Add the method to the wiki page:

1. Find the appropriate topic wiki page, or if it does not exist, create the appropriate new page.
   • To create a wiki page, go to the Wiki category (menu on left), click on the New page button (top right), add a name for the page, and click on Create page.
   • If you create a new wiki page, add a link to the new page from the Home wiki page. (For example, click on Wiki on Numerical cognition > Numerical cognition methods Editor > Wiki above the current wiki page, which brings you to the Home page, and edit it).
2. Add the link to the method part (appropriate issue)
   • To edit the appropriate wiki page, click on the Edit button (top right).
   • Add the number of the appropriate issue with a hash sign before it, e.g., #23. (You can find this number, e.g., in the address bar, when you see the issue.) GitLab will transform it into a link automatically.
   • Check the Preview (above the Content editing part). If it looks OK, then click on Save changes (bottom).
   • In the GitLab project, the link of the method displays only as a number. However, when the wiki page will be transformed into the public site, the title of the issue will be displayed instead of the number.

Review a method and vote on it

In the review,

• you can add comment to a method or ask for more information, and
• you can vote on the method: You can support or oppose the method

You can combine these types of comments in any way, but clearly, it does not make sense to ask about some essential component of the method and vote on it at the same time.

Technically, all of these notes should go to the Issues part of the GitLab project.

Commenting about a method

1. Find the method you want to review in the issue tracker (find the link from the wiki pages or use the GitLab search function).
   
   
2. If you want to write a review that is a new review and not a response to some previous review, then go to the bottom of the page, and in the Write part, write your review.
   • You can use the formatting bar or Markdown to format your text. Use the Preview tab to check how your text will look.
3. When the text is completed, use the arrow next to the Comment text and choose Start discussion. (Others can reply to your review only if you choose the Start discussion option; otherwise, with the Comment option, your review will be a standalone comment.)
   
   
4. If you want to mainly reply to a previous review, then look for that review and start typing in the Reply field.
   • You can use the formatting options as described above.
   • Click on Comment when ready.

If you added a review-like comment for a published journal or conference paper, you might add your post-publication review to your Web of Science account, too.

Voting on a method

A vote is technically a comment (so all information above applies here, too) with some extra rules.

When you vote, start your comment with the support or oppose words. After that, you can add any other comment, but the first word should be “support” or “oppose”. If you don’t use these words as the first word of your comment, your comment is not a vote, even if your comment supports or opposes the method. Also, if you +1 or -1 the method, it is not a vote; only the first word “support” or “oppose” in your comments are votes.

You can’t vote on your own method (i.e. when you’re one of the authors of the publication of the method). Still, you can add other comments to your work (such as responses to questions, additional details, etc.), but not a vote.

If you are somehow related to any of the authors of the method you are voting on, add a disclaimer to your vote about what is your relation to the authors. (E.g., the author of the method is my wife; the first author of the method was my boss between 2008 and 2016; I have a paper with the third author as co-author.)

If you vote on a method, it is appreciated if you add some justification why you support or oppose the method. This is especially important, if you oppose a method.

If you ask about an essential detail in your comment, then it does not make sense to vote on it at the same time.

The status of the methods will be updated continuously and automatically, depending on the actual number of supportive and opposing votes. See the details here.