Cross-posted from the Research Software Alliance.

The FAIR4RS Working Group Steering Committee 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.

This work has been organized by the FAIR4RS Working Group, which was jointly convened by the Research Data Alliance (RDA), the Research Software Alliance (ReSA), and FORCE11. Similar to the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship, the goal of the FAIR4RS Principles is to improve the sharing and reuse of research software, by making it Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. These principles are needed because specific characteristics of software — such as its executability, composite nature, and continuous evolution and versioning — make it necessary to revise and extend the FAIR data principles.

The FAIR4RS Principles themselves, as well as explanation about them, are available as:

Chue Hong, N. P., Katz, D. S., Barker, M., Lamprecht, A-L, Martinez, C., Psomopoulos, F. E., Harrow, J., Castro, L. J., Gruenpeter, M., Martinez, P. A., Honeyman, T., et al. (2022). FAIR Principles for Research Software version 1.0. (FAIR4RS Principles v1.0). Research Data Alliance. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15497/RDA00068

We intentionally do not quote them here, as we want to ensure that there is just one canonical version that is used and cited.

With this release of the FAIR4RS Principles, the FAIR4RS Working Group has completed its work. As part of this work, we have compiled resources for adoption guidelines and adoption support examples. We look forward to seeing communities creating further guidance for their members.

We have now transferred governance of these principles to the RDA Software Source Code Interest Group. At SSC IG sessions at RDA meetings, adopters can report on adoption, including any concerns. In line with its maintenance and retirement plan, after two years, a broadly consultative and open review will be conducted to consider if the principles are still appropriate and meeting the aims of the community.

We encourage everyone to engage with the FAIR4RS Principles and look forward to seeing the benefits of their community-wide adoption.

Please share news via social media using #FAIR4RS, and continue to add resources to the FAIR4RS community in Zenodo.