Anelda Van der Walt

Participants of the first Research Software Indaba held in Cape Town, South Africa in May 2023.

 (Photo credit: Noxolo Chalale)

By Anelda Van der Walt (Director, Talarify) 6 December 2023 The African continent is home to some of the world’s most significant multi-country research projects.

Navigating the Unseen: Unveiling the Scope of African Research Software and Systems Engineering

Michelle Barker

Daniel S. Katz

Image courtesy of icon king1 from freeicons.io. Posted on 24 February 2022. Overview of research software funding landscape

 February 24, 2022

By Michelle Barker and Daniel S. Katz DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6102487 This report aims to provide a brief overview of the funding landscape for research software throughout its life cycle.

Overview of research software funding landscape

Kim Hartley, Michelle Barker, Daniel S. Katz

(Photo credit: Annelies Verhelst)

Authors: Kim Hartley, Michelle Barker, Daniel S. Katz Given that software is an integral component of research processes and a widely used instrument for scientific research in all fields, funders have increasingly recognised and valued research software and the people who develop and maintain it as fundamental and vital to research globally.

Funder community focuses on crucial role of research software

Research Software Alliance

October, 2022 Authors: Michelle Barker Introduction The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) has been expanding their 2020 mapping of the international research software community landscape (Katz et al., 2020), to assist in fulfilling the ReSA mission to bring research software communities together to collaborate on the advancement of research software.

Expanding the mapping of the global research software community

August, 2022 Authors: Daniel S. Katz, Tom Honeyman, Paula Andrea Martinez, Michelle Barker, Leyla Jael Castro, Neil Chue Hong, Morane Gruenpeter, Jennifer Harrow, Anna-Lena Lamprecht, Carlos Martinez-Ortiz, Fotis Psomopoulos Introduction This blog post describes the need for, the work towards, and the recent completion of version 1.0 of the FAIR Principles for Research Software (FAIR4RS Principles v1.0). It also briefly discusses the principles

FAIR for Research Software (FAIR4RS): A summary

FAIR4RS Working Group Steering Committee

Cross-posted on 21 June 2022. FAIR Principles for Research Software Released

 June 21, 2022

FAIR4RS Working Group Steering Committee We are pleased to announce the release of version 1.0 of the FAIR Principles for Research Software (FAIR4RS Principles), after about 2 years of work by over 500 people.

FAIR Principles for Research Software Released

Cross-posted by Better Scientific Software (BSSw) and ReSA

. How can we reframe research software engineering (RSE) to place diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a central organising principle in the community?

Vive la différence - research software engineers

October, 2022

Authors: Michelle Barker

 Introduction

The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) has been expanding their 2020 mapping of the international research software community landscape (Katz et al., 2020), to assist in fulfilling the ReSA mission to bring research software communities together to collaborate on the advancement of research software.

Image by Lightspring on Shutterstock. Cross-posted on 9 December 2021 by the Netherlands eScience Centre and the Software Sustainability Institute. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5762703 Research software is essential for research data, so how should governments respond? December 9, 2021 Authors: Michelle Barker, Neil Chue Hong, Daniel S. Katz, Mark Leggott, Andrew Treloar, Joris van Eijnatten,Selina Aragon.

Research software is essential for research data, so how should governments respond?

Image courtesy of Bongkarn Thanyakij from Pexels via canva. Cross-posted on 17 February 2022. Meet our Founding Members!

 February 17, 2022

The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) is honored to announce the six Founding Members of its international community: Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC): The ARDC enables the Australian research community and industry access to nationally significant, digital research infrastructure.

Meet our Founding Members!

January 2024  This downloadable report features ReSA’s engagement in 2023 with key decision makers and influencers involved with research software across the globe, as well as the broader research software community. Citation: Hartley, Kim &amp; Barker, Michelle (2024). Research Software Alliance Community Report 2023. Zenodo.

Research Software Alliance Community Report 2023

Saranjeet Kaur Bhogal

December 2023  Author: Saranjeet Kaur Bhogal  In 2023 I was engaged by the Research Software Alliance (ReSA) as a Community Manager for the Asia region, as part of the ReSA mission to advance the research software ecosystem by collaborating with decision makers and key influencers.

Advocating for Research Software Engineering in Asia: 2023 in Review

Michelle Barker, Leyla Jael Castro, Bernadette Fritzsch, Daniel S. Katz, Carlos Martinez-Ortiz, Anna Niehues, Alexander Struck, Qian Zhang

By Michelle Barker, Leyla Jael Castro, Bernadette Fritzsch, Daniel S. Katz, Carlos Martinez-Ortiz, Anna Niehues, Alexander Struck, Qian Zhang  [This blog past has been cross-posted by the Software Sustainability Institute, Netherlands eScience Center, and others.]  The FAIR for Research Software (FAIR4RS) Principles aim to promote and encourage the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR) of research software.

The FAIR for Research Software Principles after two years: an adoption update

Paula Andrea Martinez

Hartwig Anzt

Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran

Tom Bakker

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3699950 Cross-posted on 11 March 2020 by the Netherlands eScience Centre, Software Sustainability Institute, US Research Software Sustainability Institute and US Research Software Engineering Photo from Pixabay The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) and the Community Landscape

 March 11, 2020

Authors: Daniel S. Katz, Michelle Barker, Paula Andrea Martinez, Hartwig Anzt, Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran, and Tom Bakker

The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) and the community landscape

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3699950 Cross-posted on 11 March 2020 by the Netherlands eScience Centre, Software Sustainability Institute, US Research Software Sustainability Institute and US Research Software Engineering Photo from Pixabay The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) and the Community Landscape March 11, 2020 Authors: Daniel S. Katz, Michelle Barker, Paula Andrea Martinez, Hartwig Anzt, Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran, and Tom Bakker ReSA’s mission

Cross-posted on 21 June 2022. FAIR Principles for Research Software Released June 21, 2022 FAIR4RS Working Group Steering Committee We are pleased to announce the release of version 1.0 of the FAIR Principles for Research Software (FAIR4RS Principles), after about 2 years of work by over 500 people.

Image was created with the assistance of AI.

By Michelle Barker, Kim Hartley, Daniel S. Katz, Richard Littauer, Qian Zhang, Shurui Zhou, Jyoti Bhogal August 2024 [This blog post has been cross-posted by the Netherlands eScience Center, Software Sustainability Institute, and US-RSE.] Abstract This position paper provides a statement on the criticality of research software in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven research and makes

Research software is critical to the future of AI-driven research

February, 2023 This downloadable report documents the Research Software Alliance (ReSA) engagement in 2022 with key decision-makers and influencers in research software across the globe, as well as the broader research software community.

ReSA 2022 Year in review

Daniel S. Katz, Maria Cruz, Michelle Barker, and Florian Mannseicher at the Global Research Council annual meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland - May 2024


 (Image credit: Daniel S. Katz)

Authors: Kim Hartley, Michelle Barker, Daniel S. Katz Given that software is an integral component of research processes and a widely used instrument for scientific research in all fields, funders have increasingly recognised and valued research

June 2023 Authors: Kim Hartley, Michelle Barker, Mark Leggott, Daniel S. Katz DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7986715 How Can Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) Support Research Software? Did you know that an organisational Open Source Program Office (OSPO) has the potential to improve sustainability of research software in universities, governments, and civic institutions?

How Can Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) Support Research Software?

April, 2023 Author: Saranjeet Kaur Bhogal Introduction This blog explores my thoughts on the potential role of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in promoting the growth of a Research Software Engineering (RSE) community in Asia-Pacific. The significance of this lies in the fact that NRENs have not traditionally been significantly involved in supporting RSE groups in other regions.

Can National Research and Education Networks be a focal point for Research Software Engineers in some regions?

Valentina Azzarà

Lieke de Boer

Neil Chue Hong

Maria Cruz

Niels Drost

Joris van Eijnatten

Maaike de Jong

Carlos Martinez-Ortiz

Veronica Pang

Image: Carole Goble presenting “Research Software Sustainability Takes a Village”. Photo credit: Annelies Verhelst

 November, 2022

Authors: Michelle Barker, Valentina Azzarà, Tom Bakker, Lieke de Boer, Neil Chue Hong, Maria Cruz, Niels Drost, Joris van Eijnatten, Maaike de Jong, Daniel S. Katz, Carlos Martinez-Ortiz, Veronica Pang This blog post is being cross-posted by the Research Software Alliance and Netherlands eScience Center.

Global gathering of research software funders sets the agenda for supporting sustainable research software

September, 2022

Authors: Michelle Barker and Daniel S. Katz DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7117842 1. Introduction Commonly identified issues in the research software community include how to encourage people into research software career paths, how to retain them, and how to encourage a diverse range of people to enter the sector.

Encouraging entry, retention, diversity and inclusion in research software careers

Image: Carole Goble presenting “Research Software Sustainability Takes a Village”. Photo credit: Annelies Verhelst November, 2022 Authors: Michelle Barker, Valentina Azzarà, Tom Bakker, Lieke de Boer, Neil Chue Hong, Maria Cruz, Niels Drost, Joris van Eijnatten, Maaike de Jong, Daniel S. Katz, Carlos Martinez-Ortiz, Veronica Pang This blog post is being cross-posted by the Research Software Alliance and Netherlands eScience Center.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3884311 Cross-posted on 8 June 2020 by the Netherlands eScience Centre, Software Sustainability Institute, and US Research Software Sustainability Institute Photo from Wikimedia Evidence for the importance of research software June 8, 2020 Authors: Michelle Barker, Daniel S. Katz and Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran This blog analyses work evidencing the importance of research software to research outcomes, to enable the research

Evidence for the importance of research software

September, 2022 Authors: Michelle Barker and Daniel S. Katz DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7117842 1. Introduction Commonly identified issues in the research software community include how to encourage people into research software career paths, how to retain them, and how to encourage a diverse range of people to enter the sector.

Cross-posted by Better Scientific Software (BSSw) and ReSA. How can we reframe research software engineering (RSE) to place diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a central organising principle in the community? This compelling question was the impetus for the Vive la différence - research software engineers workshop, a hybrid event that took place both in person at the Lorentz Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, from 19-22 April 2022;

Image courtesy of Bongkarn Thanyakij from Pexels via canva. Cross-posted on 17 February 2022. Meet our Founding Members! February 17, 2022 The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) is honored to announce the six Founding Members of its international community: Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC): The ARDC enables the Australian research community and industry access to nationally significant, digital research infrastructure.

Image courtesy of icon king1 from freeicons.io. Posted on 24 February 2022. Overview of research software funding landscape February 24, 2022 By Michelle Barker and Daniel S. Katz DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6102487 This report aims to provide a brief overview of the funding landscape for research software throughout its life cycle. This report explains the methodology, considers available information, and suggests future work.

May, 2023 Author: Paula Andrea Martinez Introduction The ReSA Task force on

 “Research institution policies to support research software”

aims to collect institutional policies for further dissemination as examples and encouragement to increase the value of research software assets worldwide.

Research institution policies to support research software - Task Force

Image credit: SciLifeLab

By Michelle Barker, Chris Erdmann, Eric Jensen, Kim Hartley, Anna Henriksson, Suné Joubert October 2024 The 2024 International Research Software Funders Workshop continued to progress the way funders sustain and support research software.

International Research Software Funders Workshop 2024 – Building a Sustainable Future for Research Software

Kim Hartley

October 2023  Authors: Kim Hartley and Michelle Barker  We are proud to report that the second International Research Software Funders Workshop, co-hosted by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (the Alliance) and the Research Software Alliance (ReSA) from 18-20 September was a great success.

Investing in People: Anticipating the Future of Research Software

15 September 2023  DOI: 10.59350/a0wh3-y3057   Image source: Prostock-studio, Shutterstock  We are pleased to announce that Version 1.0 of the Amsterdam Declaration on Funding Research Software Sustainability (ADORE.software) is now released.

ADORE.software is ready for signing

Mark Leggott

June 2023 Authors: Kim Hartley, Michelle Barker, Mark Leggott, Daniel S. Katz DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7986715

 How Can Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) Support Research Software?

Did you know that an organisational Open Source Program Office (OSPO) has the potential to improve sustainability of research software in universities, governments, and civic institutions?

April, 2023  Author: Saranjeet Kaur Bhogal Introduction   This blog explores my thoughts on the potential role of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in promoting the growth of a Research Software Engineering (RSE) community in Asia-Pacific. The significance of this lies in the fact that NRENs have not traditionally been significantly involved in supporting RSE groups in other regions.

Eric Allen Jensen

4 September 2023  Authors: Eric Allen Jensen, Daniel S. Katz  DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8312543    Research software is the unsung hero of modern science. Yet it often plays second fiddle to traditional scholarly outputs such as journal articles. As research grows increasingly computational, the need to recognise software contributions becomes imperative. However, there are a number of challenges that must be overcome to achieve this.

Elevating Research Software: Developing a Roadmap

February, 2023

This downloadable report documents the Research Software Alliance (ReSA) engagement in 2022 with key decision-makers and influencers in research software across the globe, as well as the broader research software community.

Andrew Treloar

Selina Aragon

Image by Lightspring on Shutterstock. Cross-posted on 9 December 2021 by the Netherlands eScience Centre and the Software Sustainability Institute. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5762703 Research software is essential for research data, so how should governments respond?

 December 9, 2021

Authors: Michelle Barker, Neil Chue Hong, Daniel S. Katz, Mark Leggott, Andrew Treloar, Joris van Eijnatten, Selina Aragon.

August, 2022

Authors: Daniel S. Katz, Tom Honeyman, Paula Andrea Martinez, Michelle Barker, Leyla Jael Castro, Neil Chue Hong, Morane Gruenpeter, Jennifer Harrow, Anna-Lena Lamprecht, Carlos Martinez-Ortiz, Fotis Psomopoulos Introduction This blog post describes the need for, the work towards, and the recent completion of version 1.0 of the FAIR Principles for Research Software (FAIR4RS Principles v1.0). It also briefly discusses the

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3884311 Cross-posted on 8 June 2020 by the Netherlands eScience Centre, Software Sustainability Institute, and US Research Software Sustainability Institute Photo from Wikimedia Evidence for the importance of research software

 June 8, 2020

Authors: Michelle Barker, Daniel S. Katz and Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran This blog analyses work evidencing the importance of research software to research outcomes, to enable

September, 2024

Authors: Michelle Barker, Wilhelm Hasselbring Directions for Research Software Engineering Research RSE research is a new direction in the evolving field of Research Software Engineering (RSE). This concept was highlighted in a panel chaired by Wilhelm Hasselbring (Kiel University) at RSECon in September 2024.

Directions for Research Software Engineering Research

Michelle Barker, Domhnall Carlin, Jeremy Cohen, Eric A. Jensen, Catherine M. Jones, Carlos Martinez Ortiz and Dan Rudmann

June 2024 By Michelle Barker, Domhnall Carlin, Jeremy Cohen, Eric A. Jensen, Catherine M. Jones, Carlos Martinez Ortiz and Dan Rudmann

 1 Introduction

Advocating for, initiating and supporting policy change can be a major challenge. This is especially true in large organisations with longstanding structures and complex operational models that have been established over, sometimes, many years or even decades.

Resources for supporting policy change in research institutions in practice: A report from Subgroup 2 of the ReSA &amp; RDA Policies in Research Organisations for Research Software (PRO4RS) Working Group

Image credit: Viri Gutiérrez, Lummi

By Michelle Barker, Sandra Gesing, Rowland Mosbergen, Uwe Schmitt, Carlos Martinez-Ortiz September 2024 The RSE Worldwide sessions at this year’s Research Software Engineering Conference (RSECon) in the UK continue to address the importance of connecting these emerging communities with the global research software community.

RSE Worldwide: Opportunities to Strengthen the Global RSE Community

[DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3884311](https://zenodo.org/record/3884311)

Cross-posted on 8 June 2020 by the [Netherlands eScience
Centre](https://blog.esciencecenter.nl/evidence-for-the-importance-of-research-software-1cb4a49077f3),
[Software Sustainability
Institute](https://www.software.ac.uk/blog/2020-06-08-evidence-importance-research-software),
and [US Research Software Sustainability
Institute](http://urssi.us/blog/2020/06/08/evidence-for-the-importance-of-research-software/)

Photo from
[Wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_picture_candidates/Black_hole#/media/File:Black_hole_-_Messier_87.jpg)

## Evidence for the importance of research software

*June 8, 2020*

Authors: [Michelle Barker](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3623-172X),
[Daniel S. Katz](http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5934-7525) and [Alejandra
Gonzalez-Beltran](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3499-8262)

This blog analyses work evidencing the importance of research software
to research outcomes, to enable the research software community to find
useful evidence to share with key influencers. This analysis considers
papers relating to meta-research, policy, community, education and
training, research breakthroughs and specific software.

The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) [Taskforce for the importance of
research software](https://www.researchsoft.org/taskforces/) was formed
initially to bring together existing evidence showing the importance of
research software in the research process. This kind of information is
critical to achieving ReSA's vision to have research software recognised
and valued as a fundamental and vital component of research worldwide.

#### Methodology

The Taskforce has utilised crowdsourcing to locate resources in line
with ReSA's mission to bring research software communities together to
collaborate on the advancement of research software. The Taskforce
invited [ReSA Google group
members](https://groups.google.com/forum/?pli=1#!forum/research-software-alliance)
in late 2019 to submit evidence about the importance of software in
research to a [Zotero group
library](https://www.zotero.org/groups/2400609/resa/library). Evidence
could be from a wide range of sources including newspapers, blogs,
peer-reviewed journals, policy documents and datasets.

The submissions to Zotero to date highlight the significant role that
software plays in research. We analysed the submissions and tagged them
based on how [some community research software
organisations](http://urssi.us/blog/2020/03/11/the-research-software-alliance-resa-and-the-community-landscape/)
categorise focus areas. Some of the documents were also tagged by
country and/or research discipline to enable users to search from that
perspective. This resulted in the following tags, which are explained in
the following sections:

- Meta-research
- Policy
- Community
- Education and training
- Research breakthroughs
- Software

#### Submission contents

Explanations of each category, and examples of some of the resources,
are highlighted below. It should be noted that some of the resources
mentioned below are important in a number of the categories; however,
have only been cited here in one.

**Meta-research** contains resources that include analysis of how
software is developed and used in research:

- [Charting the digital transformation of science: Findings from the
  2018 OECD International Survey of Scientific Authors
  (ISSA2)](https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/charting-the-digital-transformation-of-science_1b06c47c-en)
  includes evidence that 25% of
  [research](https://twitter.com/hashtag/research?src=hashtag_click)
  produces new code.
- [The Ecosystem of Technologies for Social Science
  Research](https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/technologies-for-social-science-research)
  tracks increases in the use of software tools, along with
  characteristics of key tools. It is noted that whilst many commercial
  tools are available, the more innovative ones are coming out of
  academia.
- *Nature*'s analysis of [the top 100 cited
  papers](https://www.nature.com/articles/514550a) finds that the vast
  majority describe experimental methods or software that have become
  essential in their fields.
- [UK Research Software Survey](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14809)
  considers responses of 1,000 randomly chosen researchers to show that
  more than 90% of researchers acknowledged software as being important
  for their own research, and about 70% of researchers said that their
  research would not be possible without software.
- [Understanding Software in Research: Initial Results from Examining
  Nature and a Call for Collaboration](https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.06527)
  reveals that "32 of the 40 papers examined mention software, and the
  32 papers contain 211 mentions of distinct software, for an average of
  6.5 mentions per paper."

**Policy** is used to tag resources that focus on policy related to
software, including the need for increased policy focus in this area.

- [An environment for sustainable research software in Germany and
  beyond: current state, open challenges, and call for
  action](https://f1000research.com/articles/9-295/v1) examines how
  German funding bodies are increasingly acknowledging the importance
  and value of sustainable research software and related
  infrastructures, and makes recommendations on how to further improve
  this.
- [Community Organizations: Changing the Culture in Which Research
  Software Is Developed and
  Sustained](https://doi.org/10.1109/MCSE.2018.2883051) found that the
  US National Science Foundation made 18,592 awards totalling \$9.6
  billion to projects that [](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1811.08473.pdf)
  mentioned "software" in their abstracts between 1995-2016, which
  suggests that government funding policy needs to recognise the
  critical nature of research software.
- [RDA COVID-19 Working Group Recommendations and
  Guidelines](https://www.rd-alliance.org/group/rda-covid19-rda-covid19-omics-rda-covid19-epidemiology-rda-covid19-clinical-rda-covid19-0)
  contains recommendations for policy makers, funders, publishers and
  research community members working to overcome the challenges of
  COVID-19.
- [Recognising the importance of software in research: Research Software
  Engineers (RSEs), a UK example -
  Study](https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/fd0f6775-e0dd-11e9-9c4e-01aa75ed71a1)
  is a case study that discusses the current challenges faced by RSEs
  and policy conclusions to further help support RSEs and to contribute
  to the progress of open science in Europe.
- [UK's research and innovation infrastructure: opportunities to grow
  our capability](https://www.ukri.org/research/infrastructure/)
  highlights the importance of software by recognising software and
  skills as one of the six computational and e-infrastructure themes.

**Community** considers work on the importance of research software
communities in ensuring best practice in software development.

- [Computational Research Software: Challenges and Community
  Organizations Working for Culture
  Change](https://sinews.siam.org/Details-Page/computational-research-software-challenges-and-community-organizations-working-for-culture-change)
  identifies the importance of sustained community in the development of
  high-quality software, and introduces efforts by grassroots
  organisations and projects to improve software quality, productivity
  and sustainability. These endeavours ensure the integrity of research
  results and enable more effective collaboration.
- [Community Organizations: Changing the Culture in Which Research
  Software Is Developed and
  Sustained](https://doi.org/10.1109/MCSE.2018.2883051) provides an
  overview of the grassroots organisations and projects that have
  evolved to address growing technical and social challenges in research
  software productivity, quality, reproducibility and sustainability.
  This article then discusses opportunities to leverage their
  synergistic activities while nurturing work toward emerging software
  ecosystems.

**Education and training** identifies work that considers issues round
skills, training, career paths and reward structures.

- [How do scientists develop scientific software? An external
  replication](https://doi.org/10.1109/SANER.2018.8330263) considers how
  scientists acquire software engineering knowledge to suggest
  improvements in this process.
- [Software Use in Astronomy: an Informal
  Survey](https://arxiv.org/abs/1507.03989) finds that all participants
  use software in their research, and identifies the ten most popular
  tools. 90% of participants write at least some of their own software,
  while only 8% report that they have received substantial training in
  software development.
- [Unmet needs for analyzing biological big data: A survey of 704 NSF
  principal
  investigators](https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005755)
  highlights the importance of skills in software development for data
  analysis, with 90% of respondents indicating they are currently or
  will soon be analysing large data sets.

**Research breakthroughs** include papers on significant research
accomplishments that acknowledge reliance on research software tools:

- [Case Study: First Photograph of a Black Hole, Enabled by NumFOCUS
  Tools](https://numfocus.org/case-studies/first-photograph-black-hole).
- [Pegasus powers LIGO gravitational wave de­tection
  analysis](https://pegasus.isi.edu/2016/02/11/pegasus-powers-ligo-gravitational-waves-detection-analysis/).
- [Software framework designed to accelerate drug discovery wins IEEE
  International Scalable Computing
  Challenge](https://phys.org/news/2018-08-software-framework-drug-discovery-ieee.html).

**Software** has been applied as a tag to resources that mention
particular pieces of software, including when this is part of a broader
focus in the resource. This category includes a sample of the tens of
thousands of papers that rely on research software and that collectively
build knowledge in a field, for example:

- [Analysis of Human Sequence Data Reveals Two Pulses of Archaic
  Denisovan Admixture](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.02.031).
- [Challenges in funding and developing genomic software: roots and
  remedies](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-019-1763-7).
- [Researchers find bug in Python script may have affected hundreds of
  studies](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/10/chemists-discover-cross-platform-python-scripts-not-so-cross-platform/).
- [Securing the future of research computing in the
  biosciences](https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006958).
- [These 7 CERN Spinoffs Show The Project Isn't Just
  Theoretical](https://interestingengineering.com/these-7-cern-spinoffs-show-the-project-isnt-just-theoretical).

#### Other useful approaches

This analysis has been useful in elucidating some of the ways in which
the value of software can be demonstrated. However, there are also other
approaches that could be useful. For example, methods to evaluate
economic value are providing valuable statistics for research data, but
comparable examples for research software are rare. The recent European
Union publication, [Cost-benefit analysis for FAIR research
data](https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d375368c-1a0a-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1),
finds that the overall cost to the European economy of not having
Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) research data is
€10.2bn per year in Europe. A 2014 Australian study by [Houghton and
Gruen](https://www.ands.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/393022/open-research-data-report.pdf)
similarly demonstrates the economic value of data, estimating the value
of Australian public research data at over \$1.9 billion a year. One of
the few economic valuations of research software is a 2017 analysis by
[Sweeny et
al.](https://nectar.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Estimating-the-value-and-impact-of-Nectar-Virtual-Laboratories-2017.pdf)
of the return on investment generated by three Australian virtual
laboratories, which provide access to research software and data for
researchers, was at least double the investment for every measure. This
indicated that the services had a significant economic and user impact -
by one measure the value of one virtual laboratory was over 100 times
the cost of investment. It would be useful if more studies were
undertaken to demonstrate the economic benefits of research software
using different methodologies.

#### Conclusion

This summary of evidence of the importance of research software to
research outcomes illustrates increasing recognition of this fact. It
could also be used to encourage the community to consider where
additional work could be useful (such as expanding existing surveys in
specific countries and disciplines to get a more global scope), and to
inspire the recording of more of this information (which could include
striking examples that convey the impact of failing to understanding the
costs and responsibilities of thoughtful software management).

We encourage readers to submit additional resources to the ReSA
resources list, which is publicly available:

- Add it directly to the ReSA [Zotero group
  library](https://www.zotero.org/groups/2400609/resa/library) (requires
  Zotero account).

*Want to discuss this post with us? Send us an email via [contact
us](https://www.researchsoft.org/contact/) or a message via [Twitter
@researchsoft](https://twitter.com/researchsoft).*


DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3699950 Cross-posted on 11 March 2020 by the
Netherlands eScience Centre, Software Sustainability Institute, US
Research Software Sustainability Institute and US Research Software
Engineering Photo from Pixabay The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) and
the Community Landscape March 11, 2020 Authors: Daniel S. Katz, Michelle
Barker, Paula Andrea Martinez, Hartwig Anzt, Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran,
and Tom Bakker ReSA's mission is to bring research software communities
together to collaborate on the advancement of research software.


DOI: [10.5281/zenodo.3699950](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3699950)

Cross-posted on 11 March 2020 by the [Netherlands eScience
Centre](https://blog.esciencecenter.nl/the-research-software-alliance-resa-and-the-community-landscape-9b8a6290ebb3),
[Software Sustainability
Institute](https://www.software.ac.uk/blog/2020-03-11-research-software-alliance-resa-and-community-landscape),
[US Research Software Sustainability
Institute](https://urssi.us/blog/2020/03/11/the-research-software-alliance-resa-and-the-community-landscape/)
and [US Research Software
Engineering](https://us-rse.org/blog/2020/urssi-us/the-research-software-alliance-resa-and-the-community-landscape/)

Photo from
[Pixabay](https://www.pexels.com/photo/clouds-daylight-forest-grass-371589/)

## The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) and the Community Landscape

*March 11, 2020*

Authors: [Daniel S. Katz](http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5934-7525),
[Michelle Barker](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3623-172X), [Paula Andrea
Martinez](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8990-1985), [Hartwig
Anzt](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2177-952X), [Alejandra
Gonzalez-Beltran](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3499-8262), and [Tom
Bakker](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6465-5589)

ReSA's mission is to bring research software communities together to
collaborate on the advancement of research software. Its vision is to
have research software recognized and valued as a fundamental and vital
component of research worldwide. Given our mission, there are multiple
reasons that it's important for us to understand the landscape of
communities that are involved with software, in aspects such as
preservation, citation, career paths, productivity, and sustainability.
One of these reasons is that ReSA seeks to be a link between these
communities, which requires identifying and understanding them. We want
to be sure that there aren't significant community organizations that we
don't know about to involve in our work. Also, identifying where there
are gaps will help us create the opportunities and communities of
practices as required.

When thinking about these communities, it's clear that in addition to
those that focus on software, there are others for which software is
just a small part of their interest. Some examples are communities that
focus on open science, reproducibility, roles and careers for people who
are less visible in research, publishing and review, and other types of
scholarly products and digital objects. ReSA also wants to define how we
fit and interact with that broader scholarly landscape.

### How was this work undertaken?

In September 2019, a [ReSA
taskforce](https://www.researchsoft.org/taskforces/) came together to
map the software community landscape, consisting of the authors of this
blog. This group distributed a survey to ReSA subscribers to identify
other groups interested in software. Other useful sources included:

- [Netherlands eScience Center:
  Awesome-research-software-registries](https://github.com/NLeSC/awesome-research-software-registries/blob/master/README.md)
  by Jurriaan Spaaks
- [eResearch-meeting-list](https://github.com/jamespjh/eResearch-meeting-list/tree/master)
  by James Hetherington
- [International RSE groups](http://researchsoftware.org/) by the
  [Research Software Engineering (RSE) Association in the
  UK](https://society-rse.org/)
- [Open Science Grassroots Community
  Networks](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LNF5_bOkRV-RLIF4HYmu-gOemIa4IdfXEer89fM-Vy8/edit#gid=0),
  a consortium of 120 networks
- [In which journals should I publish my
  software?](https://www.software.ac.uk/which-journals-should-i-publish-my-software)
  by Neil Chue Hong

The taskforce then met to consider the results and how to analyze them.
The [ReSA list of research software
communities](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15JHqOxR4HIKHYe821IPvbxIuXP1zMjXKGEIJwB-GPqE/edit#gid=0)
is now publicly available as a living community resource, with the
version of this list used by the ReSA taskforce in February 2020 and a
copy of this post archived in
[Zenodo](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3699950). Suggested additions or
corrections are welcome by making comments in the
[list](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15JHqOxR4HIKHYe821IPvbxIuXP1zMjXKGEIJwB-GPqE/edit#gid=0).

Some of the issues we've had in assembling this list are:

- How much interest in software does an organization need to have to be
  listed?
- When is an organization sufficiently research focused to be included?
- What momentum/scale does an organization need to have so that we
  consider it relevant in the global picture?

On the other hand, once we started adding entries to the list, for many
we found that we immediately thought of other similar organizations that
should be added. For example, some organizations have a geographic
aspect, and this led us to think of other similar organizations with
different geographic aspects, such as all the national and regional RSE
associations.

### What did we learn?

There were a range of interesting outcomes of the analysis:

- There are many, many communities that support research software,
  emphasizing the need for a coordinating organization such as ReSA. The
  importance of community development is captured in articles such as
  [Community Organizations: Changing the Culture in Which Research
  Software is Developed and Sustained](https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.08473)
  by Daniel S. Katz et al., which provides an overview of key groups and
  discusses opportunities to leverage their synergistic activities.
- There is an increasing (and wide) range of community initiatives. For
  example, the [Open Science Grassroots Community
  Networks](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1geYQLpJQtzPbhN3UZGSqPGFKNIF-hqXd7PGrwZJzasA/edit#gid=0)
  list has evolved into the Community of Open Scholarship Grassroots
  Networks (COSGN), whose networks communicate and coordinate on topics
  of common interest. COSGN has submitted an [NSF
  proposal](https://osf.io/preprints/metaarxiv/d7mwk) to formalize
  governance and coordination of the networks to maximize impact and
  establish standard practices for sustainability.
- The increasing focus on open software makes it hard to separate
  research and non-research initiatives. As per the points above, it is
  very hard to define which initiatives are part of the research
  software community, and which aren't.
- Some organizations that were originally data-centric now include a
  software focus. For example, the Research Data Alliance now includes
  the [Software Source Code Interest
  Group](https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/software-source-code-ig),
  which provides a forum to discuss issues on management, sharing,
  discovery, archiving, and provenance of software source code.

### What are the next steps?

We invite readers to continue to add or make corrections to the [ReSA
list of research software
communities](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15JHqOxR4HIKHYe821IPvbxIuXP1zMjXKGEIJwB-GPqE/edit#gid=0)
by making comments in the list, which will continue to be curated by
ReSA. We are also interested to hear from community members who would
like to engage with us in writing a landscape paper based on further
analysis and work. This could address questions such as what are the
axes that create the space, where do the currently-known organizations
fit in the space, and are there gaps where no organization is currently
working? We also invite readers to consider involvement in other ReSA
activities, including
[Taskforces](https://www.researchsoft.org/taskforces/).

### Conclusion

The ever-growing number of constituents of the research software
community both reflects and demonstrates the increasing recognition of
research software. The research software community is now a complex
ecosystem comprised of a wide variety of organizations and initiatives,
some of which are community networks themselves. Collaboration and
coordination across these initiatives is important, to enable the
broader community to work together to achieve bigger goals.

ReSA aims to coordinate across these efforts to leverage investments, to
achieve the shared long-term goal of research software valued as a
fundamental and vital component of research worldwide. Subscribe to the
[ReSA mailing
list](https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/i5e1h2) to stay
up-to-date on our activities.

*Want to discuss this post with us? Send us an email via [contact
us](https://www.researchsoft.org/contact/) or a message via [Twitter
@researchsoft](https://twitter.com/researchsoft).*
