Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Software underlies virtually all modern research, yet citation practices for software remain inconsistent and often inadequate. This short primer offers practical guidance in two directions: how to properly cite the software you use in your research, and how to make your own software easy for others to cite. We describe a seven-step workflow for citing software and a five-step workflow for making your software citeable, along with the community tools and resources that support each step. We also address common questions about what software, and how much, to cite. The guidance is field-independent; we use astronomy as a running example throughout, and readers in other disciplines can substitute the equivalent tools and conventions of their own community. Our goal is to lower the practical barrier to good software citation practice and to support a research culture in which software receives the scholarly credit it deserves.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Institutions: Illinois State University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, California Medical Innovations Institute, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of California, Berkeley, Tufts University, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California San Diego
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214289031