Joint session: Supporting FAIR in software
Collaborative session notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k-9DDGo1vb-Q41uFL7brmNiSYtXoUdNFzEbm...
This session is submitted by the Working and Interest Group Chairs Group.
- Introductions (lead by Rachael Lammey, Crossref & Helena Cousijn, DataCite)
- Achieving greater visibility of research software in line with the National Agenda for Research Software (Tom Honeyman, ARDC)
- Relevant developments in Software Citation (Morane Gruenpeter, Software Heritage)
- Introduction to Scholix and how Scholix could support software citation from different perspectives: Scholix, publisher, repository, Crossref, DataCite (Rachael Lammey, Crossref)
- Open discussion and input on Scholix schema for data citation (led by Helena Cousijn, DataCite)
- Close
This will be an interactive session, with plenty of time for questions and discussion for all attendees, not just the speakers & group members.
The aim of this joint session between the Scholix WG, the FAIR for Research Software WG and the Software Source Code IG is to further the conversation around software citation.
There are lots of corresponding conversations happening in our RDA groups, and on other platforms e.g. FORCE11 relevant to the management, sharing, discovery, and provenance of source code. We are all trying to figure out how best to support the use of software in research, in terms of recognising it, managing it, citing it, sharing it and making sure there are best practices in place that meet the needs of different disciplines and communities.
No one wants to reinvent things, so discussing what we are already doing with software and our planned next steps should help us learn from each other and identify points where we could collaborate.
Scholix
The working group is in maintenance mode, but continues to meet regularly in monthly calls and in RDA plenaries. The focus of the group’s work continues to be on adoption of the working group recommendations.
FAIR for Research Software (FAIR4RS) WG
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First recommendation outcome is currently under review.
- Three new subgroups focused on adoption will run from September - December 2021
- Finalizing Working Group Outputs from January- March 2022
Software Source Code IG
Group status: recognised and endorsed
This interest group provides a forum to discuss issues on management, sharing, discovery, archival and provenance of software source code. It pays special attention to source code that generates research data and plays an important role in scientific publications.
Scholix: The working group has generated a Scholix metadata schema, has helped implement this schema in multiple Scholix hubs and other infrastructure providers, and has built a community that provides Data citation services. The group is in maintenance mode since 2019 and continues to work on Scholix adoption with repositories, publishers and other industry groups.
FAIR for Research Software (FAIR4RS) WG: Software has become essential for research. To improve the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reuse of research software [3] , it is desirable to develop and apply a set of FAIR Guiding Principles for software. Many of the high-level FAIR data principles can be directly applied to research software by treating software and data as similar digital research objects. However, specific characteristics of software — such as its executability, composite nature, and continuous evolution and versioning — make it necessary to revise and extend the original data principles.
Application of the FAIR principles to software will continue to advance the aims of the open science movement. The FAIR For Research Software Working Group (FAIR4RS WG) will be jointly convened as an RDA Working Group, FORCE11 Working Group, and Research Software Alliance (ReSA) Taskforce, in recognition of the importance of this work for the advancement of the research sector. FAIR4RS WG will enable coordination of a range of existing community-led discussions on how to define and effectively apply FAIR principles to research software, to achieve adoption of these principles.
The working group will deliver:
- A document developed with community support defining FAIR principles for research software
- A document providing guidelines on how to apply the FAIR principles for research software (based on existing frameworks)
- A document summarising the definition of the FAIR principles for research software, implementation guidelines and adoption examples.
Software Source Code IG:
Software source code plays a critical role in all fields of modern research, where source code is written and developed to address a variety of needs, like cleaning, processing and visualising data. It is a necessary component for research reproducibility and reusability.
Thus software source code should be properly curated in the same way as other research inputs and outputs such as research data and paper publication. Software source code developers and organisations that sponsor software development should also be properly credited and attributed.
This interest group will provide a forum to discuss issues on management, sharing, discovery, archival and provenance of software source code. It will pay special attention to source code that generates research data and plays an important role in scientific publications.
Working Group Recommendation
Burton, A., Fenner, M., Haak, W., & Manghi, P. (2017). Scholix Metadata Schema For Exchange Of Scholarly Communication Links. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.1120265
Scholix Metadata Schema
La Bruzzo, S., & Manghi, P. (2017). The Scholix Metadata Schema (Json And Xml). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.1120275
- A fresh look at FAIR for Research Software is examining the FAIR principles in the context of research software from scratch, not based on pre-existing work. Lead: Daniel S. Katz
- FAIR work in other contexts is examining efforts to apply FAIR principles to different forms including workflows, notebooks and training material, to provide insights for the definition and implementation of FAIR principles for research software. Lead: Michelle Barker
- Definition of research software is reviewing existing definitions of research software and will specify the scope for the WG outputs. Lead: Morane Gruenpeter
- Review of new research related to FAIR Software is reviewing new research around FAIR software that has come out since the release of the Towards FAIR principles for research software paper in August 2019. Lead: Neil Chue Hong
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