***Under beta-testing***

Submit a Software Paper

Research software programs (RSPs) do things like solve complex modeling problems; support the functioning of research instruments or the execution of research experiments; extract knowledge from large data sets; offer a mathematical library; et cetera.1 RSPs are an important research output.2 To promote recognition as such, we peer-review and publish software papers.3 In them, engineers describe and explain their programs’ uses, originality, and methods. In addition to rewarding engineers with a conventional research output (i.e., an article), these publications promote: understanding of RSPs; their sharing, use, and subsequent development; plus, the creation of new and improved programs.

What to Submit

The Research Software Program (RSP) featured in a software paper must:

• have an Open Source License at the time of submission;

• have a clear application to criminological research; and,

• be feature-complete with maintainable extensions.4

A software paper submission must include the following, in this order:

• title;

• contributor names;

• abstract (but no key words);

• statement of need (uses and originality);

• methods (with an example use case);

• software;

• references;

• contributor bio(s);

• acknowledgments, if desired;

• tables, figures, etc. can go in text or at the end.

All submissions should use the following template and import it into a submission. There is no word limit, but less is more. It is fine to submit a paper in any citation style, but, if accepted, you will be asked to format it in Chicago-Style. We do not publish endnotes, footnotes, or appendixes, but you can share such things on CrimRxiv (or another repository) and then link to them within your paper.

Where to Submit

To start a submission, click the button at the bottom of this page. You will be brought to a Pub page, where you import your paper. When you click “Request Publication”, a box will appear. Therein, please put:

• the corresponding author’s email address; and,

• a list of five people who you deem qualified to review your paper. Include their institutional affiliations and emails.5