Experiences in how RSE community identity leads to improved research software practices

Abstract: Research software once was a heroic and lonely activity, particularly in research computing and in HPC. But today, research software is a social activity, in the senses that most software depends on other software, and that most software that is intended to be used by more than one person is written by more than one person. These social factors have led to generally accepted practices for code development and maintenance and for interactions around code. This paper examines how these practices form, become accepted, and later change in different contexts. In addition, given that research software engineering (RSEng) and research software engineers (RSEs) are becoming accepted parts of the research software endeavor, it looks at the role of RSEs in creating, adapting, and infusing these practices. It does so by examining aspects around practices at three levels: in communities, projects, and groups. Because RSEs are often the point where new practices become accepted and then disseminated, this paper suggests that tool and practice developers should be working to get RSE champions to adopt their tools and practices, and that people who seek to understand research software practices should be studying RSEs. It also suggests areas for further research to test this idea.