Experimental Standards for Deep Learning in Natural Language Processing Research

Abstract: The field of Deep Learning (DL) has undergone explosive growth during the last decade, with a substantial impact on NLP as well. Yet, compared to more established disciplines, a lack of common experimental standards remains an open challenge to the field at large. Starting from fundamental scientific principles, we distill ongoing discussions on experimental standards in NLP into a single, widely-applicable methodology. Following these best practices is crucial to strengthen experimental evidence, improve reproducibility and support scientific progress. These standards are further collected in a public repository to help them transparently adapt to future needs.