The CodeMeta Project

Introducing CodeMeta

Software development creates changes, and scientific research requires reproducibility. Since software is routinely used in research projects, this can cause problems.

CodeMeta acts as a vital bridge between these disciplines.

Aiming to solve this problem, CodeMeta was founded in 2016 by a consortium of researchers. Using existing standards such as Schema.org terms and JSON-LD, CodeMeta is now a recognised framework that is employed by a worldwide community of developers, researchers, and archivists.

When used and maintained in code repositories and software distribution systems, CodeMeta enables the exact version of a library or application, that has been used and cited in scientific and other research, to be reliably identified and reused.

Research Software MetaData Guidelines

CodeMeta is suggested for use by the following Research Software MetaData Guidelines recommendations:

RSMD 1.5: Keep the machine readable intrinsic metadata information in a single source file, and automatically generate other file formats [...]; Useful

RSMD 4.1: Add software name and description of the software's functionality and purpose [...]; Essential

RSMD 4.2: Add descriptive metadata for classification purposes embedded in the code [...]; Important

RSMD 4.3: Cite related resources (e.g journal articles) describing the software with a persistent identifier or stable URL [...]; Important

RSMD 4.4: Add descriptive metadata of the software in a machine readable format [...]; Important

RSMD 5.1: Add intrinsic metadata about authors, this information can be captured in a human readable format [...]; Essential

Use Cases

Credit: CodeMeta’s citation metadata is useful for ensuring that authors get credit for their software, when it is used for published research.
Reproducibility: Tracking the software libraries and applications used in research, using CodeMeta’s versions and dependencies metadata, ensures that important findings can be reviewed and verified with greater accuracy.
Discovery: Finding software is easier with CodeMeta’s keywords and descriptions metadata. These terms allow everyone to discover relevant software, and use or contribute to it.

Connecting via Crosswalks

Repositories, software languages, and scientific domains often have different vocabularies for their metadata. Our Crosswalks exist to provide a reliable path to interoperability. By mapping each of these formats to CodeMeta via a Crosswalk, CodeMeta acts as a translation layer for data to be converted freely, preserving information that would otherwise be lost.

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