# Astro2020 APC White Paper: Elevating the Role of Software as a Product of the Research Enterprise **Authors:** Arfon M. Smith, Dara Norman, Kelle Cruz, Vandana Desai, Eric Bellm,, Britt Lundgren, Frossie Economou, Brian D. Nord, Chad Schafer, Gautham, Narayan, Joseph Harrington, Erik Tollerud, Brigitta Sip\H{o}cz, Timothy, Pickering, Molly S. Peeples, Bruce Berriman, Peter Teuben, David Rodriguez,, Andre Gradvohl, Lior Shamir, Alice Allen, Joel R. Brownstein, Adam Ginsburg,, Manodeep Sinha, Cameron Hummels, Britton Smith, Heloise Stevance, Adrian, Price-Whelan, Brian Cherinka, Chi-kwan Chan, Jeyhan Kartaltepe, Matthew Turk,, Benjamin Weiner, Maryam Modjaz, Robert J. Nemiroff, Wolfgang Kerzendorf, Iva, Laginja, Chuanfei Dong, Bruno Mer\'in, Jennifer Sobeck, Derek Buzasi,, Jacqueline K Faherty, Ivelina Momcheva, Andrew Connolly, V. Zach Golkhou arXiv: 1907.06981 ยท 2019-07-17 ## 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. ## Key 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. --- Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1907.06981