Introducing the FAIR Principles for research software.

Research software is a fundamental and vital part of research, yet significant challenges to discoverability, productivity, quality, reproducibility, and sustainability exist. Improving the practice of scholarship is a common goal of the open science, open source, and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) communities and research software is now being understood as a type of digital object to which FAIR should be applied. This emergence reflects a maturation of the research community to better understand the crucial role of FAIR research software in maximising research value.

Erratum: Taking a fresh look at FAIR for research software.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.

Taking a fresh look at FAIR for research software.

Software is increasingly essential in most research, and much of this software is developed specifically for and during research. To make this research software findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR), we need to define exactly what FAIR means for research software and acknowledge that software is a living and complex object for which it is impossible to propose one solution that fits all software.