This document serves as a framework and will be gradually filled in and expanded. The information provided so far is intended as a placeholder.
Here you will find recommendations, best practices and specific step-by-step guides for Git, research software development and research data management.
For those who are not so comfortable with the english language, german versions of this content are available in the guides-de folder.
Table of Contents
Git is a free and open-source version control software. It was developed in 2005 and has since established itself as the de facto standard for version control in software development.
GitHub.com is an online service based on Git that allows collaborative work on projects and the transparent publication and sharing of code. Furthermore, GitHub,com can be used to back up the current status of local work and to document development processes in a traceable manner.
Another well-known application in this field is GitLab. The Goethe University is currently testing this service at https://gitlab.rz.uni-frankfurt.de.
In addition to version control and collaboration using Git and GitHub, the discoverability, accessibility and reusability of research software are also important aspects of sustainable software development.
- findable: Software and its associated metadata are easily discoverable by both humans and machines.
- accessible: Software and its metadata are accessible via standardised protocols.
- interoperable: Software is interoperable with other software by exchanging data and/or metadata and/or interacting via application programming interfaces (APIs) defined by standards.
- reusable: Software is both usable (can be executed) and reusable (can be understood, modified, further developed or integrated into other software)
The FAIR4RS principles are published at https://doi.org/10.15497/RDA00068 and may be cited. We recommend this as a guide for working with research software; similar to the FAIR principles for research data.
To create and work with a Software Management Plan (SMP) that closely follows the FAIR4RS principles, we recommend our service RDMO@GU. There, you can create an SMP project and be asked questions relevant to your needs. You can also use this document — similar to a Data Management Plan (DMP) for research data — to support your research in third-party funding applications.
Would you like to contribute to your section as a GU member? Feel free to submit a pull request or contact our support team.
Creating a README for the first time, or linking your own development environment to your GitHub account? Detailed guides on various processes within GitHub can be found below.
- Create a CITATION.cff file
- Choose a licence
- Adding a License to a Repository
- Create a README
- Link to RStudio
Is there an important guide missing, or are the existing ones out of date? Please let us know at git@ub.uni.frankfurt.de.