ELEMENTS OF A DOCUMENTATION FRAMEWORK FOR AGENT-BASED SIMULATION MODELS
Sufficient and appropriate documentation of a simulation model forms an essential prerequisite for quality assessment as well as for activities of maintenance, reuse, or reproduction of the model and its results. This is true for every simulation paradigm. However, in particular for agent-based simulations with their high degree of freedom in design, their usually complex behavior and interactions, their high level of detail and heterogeneity, etc., documentation becomes indispensable, and also problematic. This article contributes to general advancement of the methodological basis of agent-based simulations by presenting a structured way of documenting agent-based simulation models. We propose a documentation framework that consists of six different categories of model information: metadata, informal model characterization, model contents, expected simulation behavior, experimental frame, and passed tests.
documentation agent-based simulation methodology