This document discusses issues around properly attributing and citing software in research. It notes that current practices do not sufficiently reward those who create and reuse high-quality software and data. The document proposes treating software and data as first-class research outputs by publishing papers about software and data to allow them to be properly referenced and credited. It also discusses challenges around identifying citable elements of software, versioning, defining authorship and roles, and ensuring proper linking of metadata.

1. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
Linking software:
Citations, roles, references,and more
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930
Repository Fringe 2015, Edinburgh, 3-4 August 2015
Neil Chue Hong (@npch), Software Sustainability Institute
ORCID: 0000-0002-8876-7606 | N.ChueHong@software.ac.uk
Institute
Software
Sustainability
www.software.ac.uk
Unless otherwise indicated
these slides licensed under
Supported by Project funding
from

2. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
Authorship Lifecycle
Identif
yCite
Reuse
Research
Index
Papers, data, software all
research outputs of
a continuous cycle.
With software, technology
makes it easier to track,
but not reward.
We cannot separate
papers, data and software
when we release research.
http://openresearchsoftware.metajnl.com
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930

3. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
The current process
Start
research
Write
software
Use
software
Produce
results
Publish
research
paper
Release
data
Release
software
Which mentions
software and data
This process is simple but
does not reward production or
reuse of good software and data.
It also has a long contribution cycle.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930

4. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
Write
software
A better process?
Start
research
Identify
existing
software
Use
software
Produce
results
Publish
research
paper
Adapt/
extend
software
Release
data
Release
software
Publish
software
paper Publish
data
paper
Whichreferences
softwareanddatapapers
Software and data papers
are needed as proxies for
rewarding reuse.
But it enables a shorter contribution cycle for
data and software.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930

5. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
What do we choose to identify:
- Workflow?
- Software that runs workflow?
- Software referenced by workflow?
- Software dependencies?
What’s the minimum citable part?
Boundary
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930

6. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
Algorithm
Function
Program
Library/Suite/Package
…
Granularity
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930

7. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
Versioning
Personal
v1
Personal
v2
Personal
v3
Personal
v2a
Public
v1
Personal
v3a
Personal
v2a
Public
v2
Public
v3
Why do we version?
- To indicate a change
- To allow sharing
- To confer special status
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930

8. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
AuthorshipAuthorship
• Which authors have had what impact on each version of the software?
• Who had the largest contribution to the scientific results in a paper?
http://beyond-impact.org/?p=175
OGSA-DAI projects statistics
from Ohloh
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930

9. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
Moving forwards
• Making software citable
 At “package level” (is this the right granularity?)
• GitHub -> Zenodo / FigShare / Insititution Repo
 https://guides.github.com/activities/citable-code/
 http://blog.stuartlewis.com/2014/09/09/github-to-repository-deposit/
 Principles for citation
• Force11 Software Citation Working Group
 https://www.force11.org/group/software-citation-working-group
 Making roles clearer
• Project Credit
 http://dictionary.casrai.org/Contributor_Roles/Software
• Contributor Badges
 https://www.mozillascience.org/projects/contributorship-badges
 Code as a Research Object
• Defining minimal metadata
 https://www.mozillascience.org/projects/codemeta
• How do we ensure this is “linked up” with RepoFringe community?
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930

10. Software Sustainability Institute
www.software.ac.uk
Find out more about the SSI
• Community Engagement (Lead: Shoaib Sufi)
 Fellowship Programme
 Events and Workshops
• Consultancy (Lead: Steve Crouch)
 Open Call for Projects / Collaborations
 Software Evaluation
• Policy and Publicity (Lead: Simon Hettrick)
 Case Studies / Policy Campaigns
 Software and Research Blog
• Training (Lead: Aleksandra Pawlik)
 Software Carpentry (300+ students/year)
 Guides and Top Tips
• Journal of Open Research Software (Editor: Neil Chue Hong)
• Collaboration between universities of Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford and Southampton
Supported by EPSRC Grant EP/H043160/1, and EPSRC/ESRC/BBSRC grant EP/N006410/1
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1497930