Where is all the research software? An analysis of software in UK academic repositories
This research examines the prevalence of research software as independent records of output within UK academic institutional repositories (IRs). There has been a steep decline in numbers of research software submissions to the UK’s Research Excellence Framework from 2008 to 2021, but there has been...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2023-11-01
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| Series: | PeerJ Computer Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/cs-1546.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797638456529125376 |
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| author | Domhnall Carlin Austen Rainer David Wilson |
| author_facet | Domhnall Carlin Austen Rainer David Wilson |
| author_sort | Domhnall Carlin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This research examines the prevalence of research software as independent records of output within UK academic institutional repositories (IRs). There has been a steep decline in numbers of research software submissions to the UK’s Research Excellence Framework from 2008 to 2021, but there has been no investigation into whether and how the official academic IRs have affected the low return rates. In what we believe to be the first such census of its kind, we queried the 182 online repositories of 157 UK universities. Our findings show that the prevalence of software within UK Academic IRs is incredibly low. Fewer than 28% contain software as recognised academic output. Of greater concern, we found that over 63% of repositories do not currently record software as a type of research output and that several Universities appeared to have removed software as a defined type from default settings of their repository. We also explored potential correlations, such as being a member of the Russell group, but found no correlation between these metadata and prevalence of records of software. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings with regards to the lack of recognition of software as a discrete research output in institutions, despite the opposite being mandated by funders, and we make recommendations for changes in policies and operating procedures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T13:03:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b2d49938a64f41a5badf5290bc920c39 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2376-5992 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T13:03:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ Computer Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-b2d49938a64f41a5badf5290bc920c392023-11-03T15:05:06ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ Computer Science2376-59922023-11-019e154610.7717/peerj-cs.1546Where is all the research software? An analysis of software in UK academic repositoriesDomhnall Carlin0Austen Rainer1David Wilson2Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology, The Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United KingdomSchool of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United KingdomInstitute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology, The Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United KingdomThis research examines the prevalence of research software as independent records of output within UK academic institutional repositories (IRs). There has been a steep decline in numbers of research software submissions to the UK’s Research Excellence Framework from 2008 to 2021, but there has been no investigation into whether and how the official academic IRs have affected the low return rates. In what we believe to be the first such census of its kind, we queried the 182 online repositories of 157 UK universities. Our findings show that the prevalence of software within UK Academic IRs is incredibly low. Fewer than 28% contain software as recognised academic output. Of greater concern, we found that over 63% of repositories do not currently record software as a type of research output and that several Universities appeared to have removed software as a defined type from default settings of their repository. We also explored potential correlations, such as being a member of the Russell group, but found no correlation between these metadata and prevalence of records of software. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings with regards to the lack of recognition of software as a discrete research output in institutions, despite the opposite being mandated by funders, and we make recommendations for changes in policies and operating procedures.https://peerj.com/articles/cs-1546.pdfResearch software engineeringInstitutional repositoryOpen accessOpen scienceOpen dataDigital libraries |
| spellingShingle | Domhnall Carlin Austen Rainer David Wilson Where is all the research software? An analysis of software in UK academic repositories PeerJ Computer Science Research software engineering Institutional repository Open access Open science Open data Digital libraries |
| title | Where is all the research software? An analysis of software in UK academic repositories |
| title_full | Where is all the research software? An analysis of software in UK academic repositories |
| title_fullStr | Where is all the research software? An analysis of software in UK academic repositories |
| title_full_unstemmed | Where is all the research software? An analysis of software in UK academic repositories |
| title_short | Where is all the research software? An analysis of software in UK academic repositories |
| title_sort | where is all the research software an analysis of software in uk academic repositories |
| topic | Research software engineering Institutional repository Open access Open science Open data Digital libraries |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/cs-1546.pdf |
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