Research Software Papers

Rationale

As part of the RSECon26 conference vision, we are launching RSECon26 Research Software Submissions. The goal of this new submission type is to encourage RSEs to open and share their work, gaining both visibility and recognition for their contributions to research.

This initiative is being created in partnership with the Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS), which has agreed to highlight RSECon26 submissions within the journal. Submissions accepted through this route will proudly feature both the JOSS and RSECon26 logos on the paper.

This submission route is designed for RSEs whose research software will be ready to be submitted to JOSS. Submissions from all research domains are welcome, as long as the software meets JOSS’s requirements.

Accepted and approved submissions (see below for eligibility details) will be granted a 15-minute (10+5) presentation slot at RSECon26.

Submission and Review Process

Please note that research software submissions will follow a slightly different process from standard conference submissions:

1. Submit your paper to JOSS before the deadline (see key dates):

   1. Visit the JOSS website, use your ORCID to sign in, and create a new submission.

   2. In the “Message to editors” box, please include the following text: “Submitted as part of the RSECon26 conference submissions.” (You may include additional information if needed.) This ensures that the JOSS×RSECon26 editors are notified of your submission.

   3. Send an email to [email protected] with the title of your submission and the subject: “JOSS×RSECon26 paper submitted”. The JOSS editors who are also part of the RSECon26 programme team will pick this up on the JOSS side.

2. Register your submission with RSECon26:

   1. Once your JOSS submission is complete, please register it as a standard submission through the RSECon26 conference system (when the portal opens), selecting the “Software paper” submission type.

   2. Include the link to the pre-review issue on GitHub, which will allow us to track the progress of your submission. Because the JOSS review process can take some time, we will consider papers that have passed the pre-review stage (i.e., recognised as valid JOSS submissions) and are under review or already accepted.

   3. Because JOSS reviews are completely independent from the conference submission review, the programme team will also need to give final approval on whether a JOSS paper submission is included in the conference programme. This will obviously not affect the outcome of the JOSS journal review.

Timeline