Introduction
As a policy maker at a funding agency, research institution, or governmental body, you play a crucial role in shaping the ecosystem around research software. You are responsible for the development of a strategic software development policies and quality assurance frameworks and the coordination and implementation of research software development guidelines and practices.
It is essential that you have knowledge of local, national and international software development policies and such policies have to be translated into practical guidelines for organisations and collaborative projects.
Close collaboration with policy-related roles such as directors, project coordinators and funders is vital for this role.
Software development & quality responsibilities, challenges & tasks
Your responsibilities focus on enabling, guiding, and incentivising good software practices at a systemic level, including:
- Recognising software as a research output - acknowledge and treat software as a first-class product of research, alongside publications and data.
- Mandate or encourage Software Management Plans (SMPs) - require grant applicants to outline how software will be developed, maintained, shared, and sustained.
- Support software sustainability - encourage funding for long-term software maintenance, not just initial development.
- Promote quality and reproducibility - encourage good practices such as version control, documentation, testing, and use of open repositories.
- Align with FAIR software principles - recommend or adopt guidelines to make research software Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
- Fund Research Software Engineer (RSE) roles - support dedicated technical roles in research teams to improve software quality and impact.
- Provide training and guidance - invest in skills development, best-practice resources, and institutional support for research software users and developers.
Software development & quality guidance
- FAIR for Research Software (FAIR4RS Principles) - guidance on making research software Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable—a key framework for policy development.
- OECD – Principles for Access to Research Data from Public Funding. While focused on data, these principles are increasingly referenced in discussions about software openness and quality.
- Software development best practices for life sciences by ELIXIR - includes recommendations that can inform institutional and funding policy.
- Guide for Funders and Policy Makers by The Turing Way - an open, community-driven handbook for reproducible and ethical data science, including a dedicated section for policy makers.
- Research Software Alliance (ReSA) - provides high-level coordination and policy input for improving research software practices globally.
- DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) - supports the recognition of software and other non-traditional outputs in research evaluation—key for policy reform.
- Policy Resources by the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) - SSI provides a range of policy-relevant materials on software sustainability, funding, and recognition across domains.
- Hidden REF Initiative by the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) - celebrating all research outputs and everyone and their “5% Manifesto Campaign” asking for commitment from Higher Education Institutes in the UK to submit at least 5% of their submissions to REF 2029 as non-traditional research outputs.
Editor
The University of Manchester / Software Sustainability Institute