FSP FAQs: Software

Generally, source code associated with USGS software releases must be made available at minimum for Federal Government-wide reuse. Source code for USGS software releases must include an appropriate open-source license or secured re-use rights; be included in the USGS source code inventory; be accompanied by documentation to facilitate reuse and participation by third parties. [Read more]

Yes. USGS scientific software information products must be assigned a DOI with the 10.5066 prefix. [Read more]

Department of the Interior, including USGS, applies strict requirements and platform authorizations for sharing software in public repositories. To avoid potential violations, policy-compliant and secure internal code repositories are available for sharing and releasing software. [Read more]

Author should work together with their supervisor and Science Center Director to determine if a set of source code is appropriate for release as a USGS scientific software release or if the algorithms or statistical methods would alternatively be more appropriate for inclusion in an associated manuscript or the metadata of a data release. [Read more]

The authoritative or original reference copy of all USGS scientific software information products must be maintained on an approved platform. As of the writing of this FAQ, these the two platforms options were (1) https://code.usgs.gov/ or (2) https://github.com/doi-usgs/. [Read more]

Yes. USGS Fundamental Science Practices (FSP) requirements for releasing scientific software information products associated with scholarly publications also apply to cooperator publications. [Read more]