Using the Astrophysics Source Code Library: Find, cite, download, parse, study, and submit

TL;DR

This paper presents a tutorial for new and advanced users on how to effectively find, cite, and utilize astrophysics research software using the Astrophysics Source Code Library and other tools, enhancing research transparency and reproducibility.

Contribution

It provides practical guidance on accessing and leveraging the ASCL and other resources for astrophysics software, promoting better software citation and reproducibility practices.

Findings

Enhanced understanding of ASCL usage for software discovery.

Improved methods for citing astrophysics software.

Increased awareness of software resources for research transparency.

Abstract

The Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL) contains 3000 metadata records about astrophysics research software and serves primarily as a registry of software, though it also can and does accept code deposit. Though the ASCL was started in 1999, many astronomers, especially those new to the field, are not very familiar with it. This hands-on virtual tutorial was geared to new users of the resource to teach them how to use the ASCL, with a focus on finding software and information about software not only in this resource, but also by using Google and NASA's Astrophysics Data System (ADS). With computational methods so important to research, finding these methods is useful for examining (for transparency) and possibly reusing the software (for reproducibility or to enable new research). Metadata about software is useful for, for example, knowing how to cite software when it is used for research and studying trends in the computational landscape. Though the tutorial was primarily aimed at new users, advanced users were also likely to learn something new.