Data & Software
Software publications describe research software tools with documentation, versioning, and reuse instructions.
Software publications describe research software tools with documentation, versioning, and reuse instructions.
When to select this type
Choose Software when the primary contribution is a research tool or package.
Typical audience
Computational researchers and developers.
Recommended use cases
Purpose
Credit software contributions and enable reproducible computational research.
Scope
Research software, packages, and analysis tools.
Typical structure
Required sections
Recommended sections
Figures
0–3 architecture or output screenshots.
Tables
0–2 benchmark comparisons.
References
5–25 references.
Supplementary material
Tutorials, notebooks, container images.
Required metadata
Required declarations
Funding requirements
Declare development funding.
Conflict of interest
Disclose commercial software interests.
Ethics requirements
If software processes human data, describe privacy safeguards.
Consent requirements
Not applicable unless human data bundled.
Data availability
Source code and test data should be accessible.
AI disclosure
Disclose AI-generated code with human validation.
Copyright
Software license governs code reuse.
Licensing
OSI-approved open source license recommended.
Export formats supported
No specific reporting guideline is required, though field standards may still apply.
Typical journal expectations
Persistent repository, version tag, documentation, and citation file.
Typical peer review process
Technical review of documentation, tests, and reproducibility.
Journal compatibility notes
Software and methods journals.
Submission readiness checklist
Select Software when your manuscript matches the scope, structure, and reporting expectations described on this page. If your work fits a different scholarly format, review similar publication types before submitting.
Contact the editorial team before payment if you need to change publication type. After editorial screening begins, type changes require editorial approval and may restart parts of the review process.
Reporting guidelines listed as recommended should be followed when applicable to your study design. Editorial reviewers assess completeness against the expectations for your selected publication type.
Platform standards for ethical research publication.
Transparent, ethical, and accountable AI use across research and publishing.
Transparency, independence, and responsible disclosure across research and publishing.