Software Articles and Open Source Research Software: The Why, the What, and the How

In this editorial, I make the case for why you should write and publish software articles about your open source research software. I begin by discussing some of the benefits of releasing your research software as an open source project. Then, I explain what a software article is in general, as well as why you should consider writing one about your research software, such as increased reproducibility, increased software reuse, the potential to increase the impact that your research has on the work of others, the potential to gain new collaborators, among other advantages. Open source enables these things, and software articles enhance the process by increasing discoverability, as well as by placing the software within a broader research context. I then discuss how to proceed to write a software article more specifically for submission to the EAI Transactions on Cognitive Communications, using either the “research article” or “short communications” article types. Received on 21 January 2021; accepted on 22 January 2021; published on 28 January 2021