May scientific software information products be released without first being publicly accessible as an open-source software project? [216]

Yes. Scientific software information products may be released either concurrent with- or subsequent to- the corresponding open-source software project being made publicly accessible. However, all requirements of Federal Policy (FISMA and Privacy Act) and SM 502.11 must be satisfied when doing so. For example, some authors may develop their code in a public software project and then release a scientific software information product when ready. Other authors may choose to release both the software project and scientific software information product concurrently. If authors want or need to only release the software product, they may create a second, clean repository that only contains the released version of the source code and not the open-source software’s project history.