Improving Software Engineering Research: Meta-Scientific Approaches

This Research Topic brings together leading-edge research in the emerging field of meta-science and its specific application to software engineering. Meta-science, the study of how science is conducted, offers a powerful means for critically evaluating and improving the methods, transparency, reliability and impact of research within the discipline of software engineering.

We welcome contributions that explore, evaluate, and advance meta-scientific approaches as applied to software engineering research.

Relevant topics include but are not limited to:
• Meta-analysis, including challenges around study quality, publication bias and questionable research practices (QRPs)
• Systematic reviews and methodological audits
• Replication studies and reproducibility assessments
• The uptake and impact of open science practices including data/code sharing and preregistration
• Research quality issues, including retractions and reporting standards
• Bibliometric and citation network studies
• Studies of publication, authorship and peer review in software engineering

We are particularly interested in three types of contributions:
1. Advanced tutorials that introduce meta-scientific methods unfamiliar to much of the software engineering community, with guidance on their application and value.
2. Original research that develops or evaluates meta-scientific methodology, including critical perspectives or innovations in the conduct of empirical research.
3. Empirical case studies that demonstrate the application of meta-science in practice, especially those that lead to concrete insights into research quality, practices or improvement.

Contributions should be submitted as one of the following article types: Original Research, Methods, Policy and Practice Reviews, Perspective, or Opinion. Please note that while Systematic Review articles are welcome as regular submissions to the journal, they will not be accepted for this Research Topic unless they address specific, non-trivial meta-science questions such as examining the methodological quality of existing reviews, their coverage of the software engineering literature or gaps in how they synthesize evidence.

We particularly seek studies that reflect on the meta-scientific dimensions of research itself: tertiary reviews that synthesize findings across multiple systematic reviews, secondary analyses of review methodologies and their application in software engineering, and investigations of research practices and their impact on the field's evidence base.

Our goal is to foster a constructive, evidence-based dialogue about how to improve the rigor, relevance and reproducibility of software engineering research.

Prospective authors are encouraged to discuss their ideas with any of the Topic Editors.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: meta-analysis, bibliometric and citation network studies, replication studies and reproducibility assessments, open science practices, research quality issues, systematic reviews, methodological audits, studies of publication and peer review in Software Engineering

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.