“It Works on My Research”: An Argument for Prioritized Software Testing in Research Software

10 pages•Published: November 6, 2025

Lars Michel, Tom Carnein and Markus von der Heyde

Abstract

As science deals with the ever-growing complexity of research fields, research software provides the tools to observe, assist and manage their processes and results. However, the majority of research software tends to prioritize the validation of theories and the creation of prototypes over the delivery of products, often overlooking the crucial aspect of quality assurance. This can result in products that are susceptible to flaws and errors. The risk of failing to deliver correct results not only undermines the trust of its users but also damages the reputation of researchers and developers in a team, risking losses in funding and public trust in research. The implementation and emphasis on software engineering practices, particularly software testing, shall mitigate these risks by prioritizing the identification and elimination of errors and faults in software development while also enhancing observability and transparency throughout the coding cycle. In parts, the project “CAVAS+” is used as an example for these practices. A thorough examination of the current state of research software development and its challenges highlights the importance of software quality and reliability in research software, ultimately contributing to a more robust research software ecosystem.

Keyphrases: agile development, cavas+, computational science, intergation testing, public trust, quality management, regression testing, research software, software engineering, software longevity, software reliability, software testing

In: Laurence Desnos, Raimund Vogl, Lazaros Merakos, Carmen Diaz, Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz and Stuart Mclellan (editors). Proceedings of EUNIS 2025 annual congress in Belfast, vol 107, pages 364-373.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/XkcK
	https://doi.org/10.29007/phr7

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{EUNIS2025:“It_Works_My_Research”,
  author    = {Lars Michel and Tom Carnein and Markus von der Heyde},
  title     = {“It Works on My Research”: An Argument for Prioritized Software Testing in Research Software},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of EUNIS 2025 annual congress in Belfast},
  editor    = {Laurence Desnos and Raimund Vogl and Lazaros Merakos and Carmen Diaz and Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz and Stuart Mclellan},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Computing},
  volume    = {107},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2398-7340},
  url       = {/publications/paper/XkcK},
  doi       = {10.29007/phr7},
  pages     = {364-373},
  year      = {2025}}

Download PDF Open PDF in browser