The ODD protocol A review and first update

The ODD (Overview Design concepts and Details) protocol was published in 2006 to standardize the published descriptions of individual-based and agent-based models (ABMs) The primary objectives of ODD are to make model descriptions more understandable and complete thereby making ABMs less subject to criticism for being irreproducible We have systematically evaluated existing uses of the ODD protocol and identified as expected parts of ODD needing Improvement and clarification Accordingly we revise the definition of ODD to clarify aspects of the original version and thereby facilitate future standardization of ABM descriptions We discuss frequently raised critiques in ODD but also two emerging and unanticipated benefits ODD Improves the rigorous formulation of models and helps make the theoretical foundations of large models more visible Although the protocol was designed for ABMs it can help with documenting any large complex model alleviating some general objections against such models (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved