PLoS Computational Biology (May 2024)

FAIR-USE4OS: Guidelines for creating impactful open-source software.

  • Raphael Sonabend,
  • Hugo Gruson,
  • Leo Wolansky,
  • Agnes Kiragga,
  • Daniel S Katz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012045
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20, no. 5
p. e1012045

Abstract

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This paper extends the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) guidelines to provide criteria for assessing if software conforms to best practices in open source. By adding "USE" (User-Centered, Sustainable, Equitable), software development can adhere to open source best practice by incorporating user-input early on, ensuring front-end designs are accessible to all possible stakeholders, and planning long-term sustainability alongside software design. The FAIR-USE4OS guidelines will allow funders and researchers to more effectively evaluate and plan open-source software projects. There is good evidence of funders increasingly mandating that all funded research software is open source; however, even under the FAIR guidelines, this could simply mean software released on public repositories with a Zenodo DOI. By creating FAIR-USE software, best practice can be demonstrated from the very beginning of the design process and the software has the greatest chance of success by being impactful.