Research Software Science: Expanding the Impact of Research Software Engineering

TL;DR

This paper introduces research software science (RSS), a scientific approach to enhance research software development, aiming for sustainable, repeatable, and impactful improvements that advance scientific discovery.

Contribution

It proposes the concept of research software science (RSS) as a new framework for applying scientific methodologies to research software engineering.

Findings

RSS promotes sustainable and reproducible software practices.

Applying scientific methods can improve research software quality.

RSS can positively impact scientific discovery.

Abstract

Software plays a central role in scientific discovery. Improving how we develop and use software for research can have both broad and deep impacts on a spectrum of challenges and opportunities society faces today. The emergence of Research Software Engineer (RSE) as a role correlates with the growing complexity of scientific challenges and diversity of software team skills. In this paper, we describe research software science (RSS), an idea related to RSE, and particularly suited to research software teams. RSS promotes the use of scientific methodologies to explore and establish broadly applicable knowledge. Using RSS, we can pursue sustainable, repeatable, and reproducible software improvements that positively impact research software toward improved scientific discovery.