What is code sharing? – A guide to the good, the bad and the ugly

Speakers:

Ania Zylbersztejn, UCL Child Health Informatics Group

Louise Mc Grath-Lone, University College London

There are many benefits to sharing code; particularly for Early Career Researchers. For example; contributions to code repositories can double up as portfolios that demonstrate technical ability and commitment to open science; which are essential for academic career progression and increasingly valued by research funders. It can also facilitate code review and help foster collaborations. Importantly; it supports transparency and reproducibility of research. In this session; we will explain what is code sharing and why you should do it; drawing on our personal experiences (the good; the bad and the ugly!). We will also invite discussion around how code sharing can be encouraged and better incentivised among Early Career Researchers. The session will also provide a simple 'how to' tutorial on code sharing through GitHub repositories; including outlining the key steps in establishing; maintaining and contributing to a code repository; illustrated by our experiences of establishing the UCL CHIG GitHub.