Astro2020 APC White Paper: Elevating the Role of Software as a Product of the Research Enterprise

TL;DR

This paper advocates for recognizing research software as a valuable research product, proposing mechanisms to cite, measure, and reward software contributions to enhance scientific progress in astronomy.

Contribution

It introduces practical solutions to integrate software as a recognized research product within the scholarly ecosystem, addressing current cultural and systemic challenges.

Findings

Highlighting the importance of software citation in research impact assessment

Proposing new metrics for software contribution recognition

Identifying barriers to software acknowledgment in academia

Abstract

Software is a critical part of modern research, and yet there are insufficient mechanisms in the scholarly ecosystem to acknowledge, cite, and measure the impact of research software. The majority of academic fields rely on a one-dimensional credit model whereby academic articles (and their associated citations) are the dominant factor in the success of a researcher's career. In the petabyte era of astronomical science, citing software and measuring its impact enables academia to retain and reward researchers that make significant software contributions. These highly skilled researchers must be retained to maximize the scientific return from petabyte-scale datasets. Evolving beyond the one-dimensional credit model requires overcoming several key challenges, including the current scholarly ecosystem and scientific culture issues. This white paper will present these challenges and suggest practical solutions for elevating the role of software as a product of the research enterprise.