Research Software Metadata Curation Roadmap
Creators: name: Gruenpeter, Morane
name: Granger, Sabrina
name: Monteil, Alain
name: Nivault, Estelle
name: Sadowska, Jozefina
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: curation
research software
metadata
FAIR
IDCC25
Lightning Talks
Curation infrastructure: Tools, systems and services that are in development
Curation infrastructure: Innovative research and exploration into new curation methods
Education and training: What skills do curators, researchers and support staff need now, and what will they need in the future?

description: Software is essential for academia, playing a crucial role in research, yet it is not fullyrecognized as a first-class output. Quality metadata and standardized identifiers can only beachieved if infrastructures provide users with the necessary functionalities and institutions offerthe incentives to encourage researchers to archive and describe their software. In this talk, weoutline the current status of research software metadata curation, the ongoing implementationwithin FAIRCORE4EOSC project, and a proposed roadmap for the future.

The FAIRCORE4EOSC project focuses on the development and realization of core componentsfor the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), launched in June 2022. Software Heritage, theINRIA research center and other partners are collaborating on the workpackage "Services andtools to archive, reference, describe, and cite research software." In this short lightning talk, wewill share the implementation mechanisms regarding the curation of research software. Thesecuration mechanisms for research software rely on the use of the CodeMeta vocabulary andcrosswalk table, allowing the infrastructures to strengthen interoperability and provideresearchers with adequate tools to better describe and cite software. The academic communityhas continuously contributed to this effort through engagement with FORCE11, RDA, and theSciCodes consortium.The proposed roadmap outlines the future development and integration ofthese tools within the broader EOSC ecosystem to reinforce software as a first-class output.This plan includes strategies for enhancing interoperability between existing infrastructureswhile relying on the universal source code archive, Software Heritage, improving metadatastandards, and enabling greater adoption of best practices in software curation. Additionally, wewill discuss the collaborative efforts and community engagement necessary to ensure thesetools effectively support the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principlesand the RSMD (Research Software MetaData) guidelines.

Although librarians have been accustomed to describing various types of documents, especiallywith the rise of data-driven research, software-specific nuances need to be explained to theteams in charge of metadata curation. The aim is to enable moderators, archivists, and curatorsto understand this distinct academic output. We need to develop comprehensive trainingprograms to equip data curators, researchers, and supporting staff with the necessaryknowledge and skills for effective research software management. Continuous training andsupport from software archival experts will ensure that these professionals are well-prepared tohandle current and future challenges in digital curation.

Infrastructures and institutions must collaborate to develop innovative tools and systems whileaddressing the education and training needs of curators and researchers within the researchlandscape. This collaboration is essential for improving the archival, referencing, description,and citation of software, ensuring that these processes are aligned with best practices andevolving standards.