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Publishing research code FAIR – a roadmap

Nowadays, research results are largely generated by self-developed software or code-based scripts. This code is regarded as an integral component of the scientist’s independent research.
The FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) have become widespread in recent years since their definition by Wilkinson et al. (2016)1, especially in the context of research data and its sustainable use. The FAIR availability of code, however, lags behind scientific publication and research data publication. It therefore makes sense to publish code FAIR, especially in the open access area, so that it can be found and reused in the scientific community on the one hand and its authors receive appropriate “credits” when it is reused on the other.

Guideline of the FAIRagro Helpdesk

Publishing research code FAIR – a roadmap

Beyer et al. (2025): Publishing research code FAIR - a roadmap

For this reason, the FAIRagro Helpdesk published a roadmap for FAIR code publication2 at the beginning of 2025. The measures presented should be seen as current recommendations (as at the beginning of 2025). Things are changing rapidly in this field, and it is questionable which methods/tools/etc. will become standards in the future and which will not be pursued further due to a lack of support from the community.

Image Code Publication

Roadmap to FAIR publication of scientifically generated code. (Beyer et al. 2025)2

  1. Wilkinson, M., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, I. et al. (2016). The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data 3, 160018. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18 ↩

  2. Beyer, F., Vedder, L., Singson, L. S., Sahwan, W. & Schmidt, M. (2025). Publishing research code FAIR - a roadmap. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14772749 ↩↩