A new feature for describing code and software management in DMP OPIDoR
Since June 25th 2025, it has been possible to specifically describe the different products of research in DMP OPIDoR. Following on from its data questionnaire, DMP OPIDoR has now included a dedicated questionnaire on source codes and research software.
This questionnaire was designed to take the specificities of the source code and software life cycle into account. It deals with points like the general description of the software, development tools and execution environments, software preservation (referencing and long-term archiving), legal aspects (authors, licences) and the associated scientific valorisation.
The main objective of this approach is to help researchers anticipate challenges linked to software development. The questionnaire highlights best practices for researchers to adopt throughout the development project. It also helps users define roles and responsibilities within a team, structure development, and choose the most suitable infrastructure and tools to produce high-quality, well-documented software.
Carrying out this process of questioning and description at the beginning of a project helps researchers define the actions required to ensure the software’s sustainability, visibility, long-term preservation, reuse and contribution to the reproducibility of research. In DMP OPIDoR, it is now possible to describe the management of different research products in just one plan, using one of two available questionnaires according to the type of research product – software or other (datasets, models, etc.). The answers provided are human- and machine-readable which facilitates their reuse.
This questionnaire was developed by a working group made up of members of the Recherche Data Gouv data management clusters and the DMP OPIDoR team, with support from the Committee for Open Science’s Software and Source Codes College.
This new development of DMP OPIDoR integrates the new version of the tool launched last month which also has other new features like being able to share structured DMPs with the National Research Agency (ANR).
Find out more about DMP OPIDoR (in Frecnh): DMP OPIDoR , Aide en ligne
Contact: dmp.opidor@inist.fr
