The Journal of Open Source Software - An Introduction and Recent Changes

Abstract

The Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS; https://joss.theoj.org) publishes concise peer-reviewed articles describing open source research software. The review process is open, iterative and includes evaluation of the software and its related attributes. The primary objectives are to promote software and those who develop it as a key part of the research process, whilst also encouraging good software practices in research. For RSEs JOSS presents an avenue through which they can be recognised for their contributions to research in formal literature. This poster aims to improve community awareness of JOSS for research software projects and encourage submission from the RSE community. For those already aware of JOSS we encourage engagement with the journal not only as authors, but also as part of the volunteer community of reviewers and editors. In the past year JOSS experienced a change in scope in response to the changing landscape in relation to AI-generated code. Part of the poster will raise awareness of these changes by communicating them to the RSE audience. We will discuss the reasons for these alongside related submission data. Finally, RSECon26 is running a partnership with JOSS through which authors can submit their work to the journal and also present it at the conference as part of a special issue. We hope to highlight and celebrate this collaboration.