A survey of the state of the practice for research software in the United States

Jeffrey C Carver; Nic Weber; Karthik Ram; Sandra Gesing; Daniel S Katz

doi:10.7717/peerj-cs.963

A survey of the state of the practice for research software in the United States

PeerJ Comput Sci. 2022 May 5:8:e963. doi: 10.7717/peerj-cs.963. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jeffrey C Carver¹, Nic Weber², Karthik Ram³, Sandra Gesing⁴, Daniel S Katz⁵

Affiliations

¹ Computer Science, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States of America.
² Information School, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America.
³ Berkeley Institute for Data Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America.
⁴ Discovery Partners Institute, Chicago, IL, United States of America.
⁵ NCSA & CS & ECE & iSchool, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States of America.

Abstract

Research software is a critical component of contemporary scholarship. Yet, most research software is developed and managed in ways that are at odds with its long-term sustainability. This paper presents findings from a survey of 1,149 researchers, primarily from the United States, about sustainability challenges they face in developing and using research software. Some of our key findings include a repeated need for more opportunities and time for developers of research software to receive training. These training needs cross the software lifecycle and various types of tools. We also identified the recurring need for better models of funding research software and for providing credit to those who develop the software so they can advance in their careers. The results of this survey will help inform future infrastructure and service support for software developers and users, as well as national research policy aimed at increasing the sustainability of research software.

Keywords: Best practices; Communities; Education & training; Policy; Research software; Software sustainability; Survey.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the United States National Science Foundation (1743188) ”SI2-S2I2 Conceptualization: Conceptualizing a US Research Software Sustainability Institute (URSSI).” The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.