As research software becomes increasingly central to scientific discovery, the need for systematic approaches to ensuring its quality, reliability, and sustainability has become critical. The Research Software Quality Toolkit (RSQKit) addresses this challenge by bringing together expertise from diverse research communities to create a practical, accessible resource that helps researchers who code, research software engineers, PIs, policy makers, and trainers implement quality practices throughout the software development lifecycle, from initial conception through long-term maintenance and reuse.

Overview of RSQKit

The toolkit encompasses several key components:

• Task-based guidance: Detailed pages covering specific quality improvement tasks, complete with links to relevant training materials and tools
• Research Software Stories: Real-world exemplars showcasing how research teams implement quality practices in their projects
• Role-specific guidance: Tailored information for various stakeholders including researchers, research software engineers, principal investigators, data stewards, and system administrators
• Quality indicators: A framework of 29 indicators organized into 12 dimensions: Compatibility, FAIRness, Flexibility, Functional Suitability, Interaction Capability, Maintainability, Open Source Software, Performance Efficiency, Reliability, Safety, Security, and Sustainability
• Tools and resources: A curated collection of software quality tools indexed and linked throughout the platform

Open and Collaborative Development

RSQKit is built on principles of openness and collaboration. The platform welcomes contributions from the research software community through multiple pathways, including GitHub pull requests, document templates, and issue submissions. Contributors retain ownership of their content while openly licensing it for community benefit.

Learn more at https://everse.software/RSQKit/get_involved

Future Directions

The RSQKit development team is actively working to expand the platform's content and improve navigation. Current priorities include developing additional task pages, promoting the Research Software Story format as a means for projects to showcase their quality practices, and exploring integration possibilities with related initiatives.

The toolkit is particularly relevant for the EOSC-linked Science Clusters, though its guidance is designed to be applicable across all research domains. As discussions continue with various research groups about adopting RSQKit as their repository for software quality practices, the platform's role as a central hub for research software quality knowledge continues to grow.