We distinguish between abstract quality dimensions (high-level categories like reliability or maintainability defined by standards such as ISO/IEC 25010 and concrete quality indicators (measurable proxies like test coverage or community engagement). While indicators provide empirical evidence, they cannot fully capture the subjective, context-dependent nature and dimensions of “good” software.
Assessing research software for quality requires balancing “fit for purpose” (the ability of a tool to solve a specific scientific problem) against long-term goals of reusability and sustainability as championed by the FAIR4RS principles. This assessment is further complicated by the non-linear relationship between technical quality and scientific impact, as well as the potential for software to be repurposed for unintended uses, which may shift the relevant quality criteria entirely.
We build upon the nine top-level [ISO software quality dimensions][ISO-IEC-25010] to bridge the gap between the nature or research software quality (e.g. community around research software) and engineering standards.
Quality Dimension Definitions
EVERSE project is working to formally define a number of research software quality dimensions along with a formal schema to be used in machine readable metadata embedded in various resources.
Each of the quality dimensions will be an umbrella for a number of quality indicators, representing a specific software quality aspect that can be measured.
Current research software quality dimensions are described below. This is still work in progress - we expect indicators in particular to be updated in the near future.
Compatibility
Degree to which a product, system or component can exchange information with other products, systems or components, and/or perform its required functions while sharing the same common environment and resources. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Co-existence
Degree to which a product can perform its required functions efficiently while sharing a common environment and resources with other products, without detrimental impact on any other product.
Interoperability
Degree to which a system, product or component can exchange information with other products and mutually use the information that has been exchanged.
Read more about compatibility dimension on TechRadar.FAIRness
FAIRness refers to the degree to which research software adheres to the FAIR principles: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. These principles, adapted for research software, aim to enhance the discoverability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of software, thereby maximizing its value and impact in scientific research.
Read more about fairness dimension on TechRadar.Flexibility
Degree to which a product can be adapted to changes in its requirements, contexts of use or system environment. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Adaptability
Degree to which a product or system can effectively and efficiently be adapted for or transferred to different hardware, software or other operational or usage environments.
Scalability
Degree to which a product can handle growing or shrinking workloads or to adapt its capacity to handle variability.
Installability
Degree of effectiveness and efficiency with which a product or system can be successfully installed and/or uninstalled in a specified environment.
Replaceability
Degree to which a product can replace another specified software product for the same purpose in the same environment.
Read more about flexibility dimension on TechRadar.Functional suitability
This characteristic represents the degree to which a product or system provides functions that meet stated and implied needs when used under specified conditions. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Functional completeness
Degree to which the set of functions covers all the specified tasks and intended users’ objectives.
Functional correctness
Degree to which a product or system provides accurate results when used by intended users.
Functional appropriateness
Degree to which the functions facilitate the accomplishment of specified tasks and objectives.
Read more about functional suitability dimension on TechRadar.Interaction Capability
Degree to which a product or system can be interacted with by specified users to exchange information via the user interface to complete specific tasks in a variety of contexts of use. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Appropriateness recognizability
Degree to which users can recognize whether a product or system is appropriate for their needs.
Learnability
Degree to which the functions of a product or system can be learnt to be used by specified users within a specified amount of time.
Operability
Degree to which a product or system has attributes that make it easy to operate and control.
User error protection
Degree to which a system prevents users against operation errors.
User engagement
Degree to which a user interface presents functions and information in an inviting and motivating manner encouraging continued interaction.
Inclusivity
Degree to which a product or system can be used by people of various backgrounds (such as people of various ages, abilities, cultures, ethnicities, languages, genders, economic situations, etc.).
User assistance
Degree to which a product can be used by people with the widest range of characteristics and capabilities to achieve specified goals in a specified context of use.
Self-descriptiveness
Degree to which a product presents appropriate information, where needed by the user, to make its capabilities and use immediately obvious to the user without excessive interactions with a product or other resources (such as user documentation, help desks or other users).
Read more about interaction capability dimension on TechRadar.Maintainability
This characteristic represents the degree of effectiveness and efficiency with which a product or system can be modified to improve it, correct it or adapt it to changes in environment, and in requirements. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Modularity
Degree to which a system or computer program is composed of discrete components such that a change to one component has minimal impact on other components.
Reusability
Degree to which a product can be used as an asset in more than one system, or in building other assets.
Analysability
Degree of effectiveness and efficiency with which it is possible to assess the impact on a product or system of an intended change to one or more of its parts, to diagnose a product for deficiencies or causes of failures, or to identify parts to be modified.
Modifiability
Degree to which a product or system can be effectively and efficiently modified without introducing defects or degrading existing product quality.
Testability
Degree of effectiveness and efficiency with which test criteria can be established for a system, product or component and tests can be performed to determine whether those criteria have been met.
Read more about maintainability dimension on TechRadar.Open Source Software
Open source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Research software can be published with or without open access to the source code. Open access to source code aligns better with academic research purposes than closed source software; open source software aligns with the FAIR4RS principles. It allows other researchers to directly verify the methods used to produce the results published in papers. It also makes reproducibility much easier. In addition to these research-driven reasons, publishing research software as open source software can help with long term maintenance in a cost-effective way, since interested developers can easily contribute new functionality or fix bugs. Moreover, by integrating with the greater open source ecosystem, researchers can leverage tools and support communities already available. As such, for most academic communities with limited resources, it is also a good choice from a software engineering perspective
Read more about open source software dimension on TechRadar.Performance Efficiency
This characteristic represents the degree to which a product performs its functions within specified time and throughput parameters and is efficient in the use of resources (such as CPU, memory, storage, network devices, energy, materials…) under specified conditions. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Time behaviour
Degree to which the response time and throughput rates of a product or system, when performing its functions, meet requirements.
Resource utilization
Degree to which the amounts and types of resources used by a product or system, when performing its functions, meet requirements.
Capacity
Degree to which the maximum limits of a product or system parameter meet requirements.
Read more about performance efficiency dimension on TechRadar.Reliability
Degree to which a system, product or component performs specified functions under specified conditions for a specified period of time. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Faultlessness
Degree to which a system, product or component performs specified functions without fault under normal operation.
Availability
Degree to which a system, product or component is operational and accessible when required for use.
Fault tolerance
Degree to which a system, product or component operates as intended despite the presence of hardware or software faults.
Recoverability
Degree to which, in the event of an interruption or a failure, a product or system can recover the data directly affected and re-establish the desired state of the system.
Read more about reliability dimension on TechRadar.Safety
This characteristic represents the degree to which a product under defined conditions avoids a state in which human life, health, property, or the environment is endangered. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Operational constraint
Degree to which a product or system constrains its operation to within safe parameters or states when encountering operational hazard.
Risk identification
Degree to which a product can identify a course of events or operations that can expose life, property or environment to unacceptable risk.
Fail safe
Degree to which a product can automatically place itself in a safe operating mode, or to revert to a safe condition in the event of a failure.
Hazard warning
Degree to which a product or system provides warnings of unacceptable risks to operations or internal controls so that they can react in sufficient time to sustain safe operations.
Safe integration
Degree to which a product can maintain safety during and after integration with one or more components.
Read more about safety dimension on TechRadar.Security
Degree to which a product or system defends against attack patterns by malicious actors and protects information and data so that persons or other products or systems have the degree of data access appropriate to their types and levels of authorization. This characteristic is composed of the following sub-characteristics:
Confidentiality
Degree to which a product or system ensures that data are accessible only to those authorized to have access.
Integrity
Degree to which a system, product or component ensures that the state of its system and data are protected from unauthorized modification or deletion either by malicious action or computer error.
Non-repudiation
Degree to which actions or events can be proven to have taken place so that the events or actions cannot be repudiated later.
Accountability
Degree to which the actions of an entity can be traced uniquely to the entity.
Authenticity
Degree to which the identity of a subject or resource can be proved to be the one claimed.
Resistance
Degree to which the product or system sustains operations while under attack from a malicious actor.
Read more about security dimension on TechRadar.Sustainability
The capacity of the software to endure. In other words, sustainability means that the software will continue to be available in the future, on new platforms, meeting new needs.
Read more about sustainability dimension on TechRadar.