Current practices and barriers for adoption of Software Management Plans

Inga Ulusoy  , Giacomo Lanza  , David Walter, Bernadette Fritzsch, Leyla Jael Garcia, Alexander Struck

Research software is nowadays fundamental to scientific advances; however, it remains under-recognised compared to data and publications, with challenges affecting reproducibility and quality. To address this, Software Management Plans (SMPs) have been proposed as structured tools to document and organise software development throughout its lifecycle. We conducted a survey among researchers and interviews with funding organisations to assess awareness, usage, and perceptions around SMPs. The results indicate low familiarity and adoption of SMPs, hindered by concerns over administrative overhead and unclear benefits. Funders rarely require SMPs, and software outcomes are not commonly tracked, shared, published and evaluated. Despite these challenges, SMPs provide a promising path for improving software quality and reproducibility when integrated early in projects, aligned to institutional and funding policies. Recognising research software as a valuable research output may foster broader SMP adoption, supporting transparency and reuse in scientific software development.