Path to JOSS

[Jashcraf]

Just a review of what needs to be done in advance of a JOSS paper submission

Requirements

• Software must be open source as per the OSI definition
• Software must be hosted on an accessible platform
• Software must have an obvious research application
• The submitting author must be a major contributor
• The paper paper.md must be hosted in a git-based repo together with your software, but can exist in a short-lived branch which is never merged
• Software must be stored in a repo that can be cloned without registration
• Be stored in a repo that is browsable without registration
• Have an issue tracker
• Permit individuals to create issues/file tickets

Paper.md Requirements

• A list of authors and their affiliations using the correct format
• A summary describing the high-level functionality for a non-specialist audience
• A statement of need section that illustrates the research purpose of the work
• List of key references, including other software addressing related needs
• Mention a representative set of past or ongoing research projects using the software
• Acknowledgements of financial support

Docs Additions

• Contributing guidelines
• Raytracer compatibility (Zemax, CODE V APIs)
• Biosketch of contributors

Review Criteria

• The JOSS paper (see previous)
• Software license
• Substantial scholarly effort (age of software, # of commits, citations or citation likelihood)
• Documentation (sufficient to understand the core functionality of the software under review)
  • Statement of need
  • Installation instructions
  • Example useage, how to solve real-world analysis problems
  • API documentation
  • Community guidelines for: Contributing, Issue reporting, Seeking support
• Functionality: It should work if you try to install it
• Tests with continuous integration

[Jashcraf]

Also asked the editors if it was okay to publish a JOSS article given that I had previously published Poke through SPIE

[Jashcraf]

^No response so I'm just going to assume it's okay

[Jashcraf]

Software updates that I want

• 1 demo (minimum) for each feature
  • Gaussian beamlets for image simulation See list below
  • PRT with whole substrates
  • PRT with multilayer thin films
  • Material data loader
• 1 demo for each physics validation done in tests
  • Thinfilm coating validation w/ Filmetrics
  • PRT simulation with CODE V
  • GBD simulation from JATIS paper
• linting with Black

[Jashcraf]

I like how ZOSPy did their compatibility display