Software is a cornerstone of science. Without software, twenty-first century science would be impossible. Without better software, science cannot progress.

But the culture and institutions of science have not yet adjusted to this reality. We need to reform them to address this challenge, by adopting these five principles:

Code All source code written specifically to process data for a published paper must be available to the reviewers and readers of the paper. Copyright The copyright ownership and license of any released source code must be clearly stated. Citation Researchers who use or adapt science source code in their research must credit the code’s creators in resulting publications. Credit Software contributions must be included in systems of scientific assessment, credit, and recognition. Curation Source code must remain available, linked to related materials, for the useful lifetime of the publication.

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