Research Software and Code Availability Policy

The Journal of Climate Informatics and Artificial Intelligence (JCIAI) encourages authors to make the software, source code, algorithms, scripts, computational workflows, and other digital research materials supporting their published findings openly available whenever ethically, legally, and technically feasible.

Transparent sharing of research software enhances reproducibility, facilitates independent validation, promotes collaboration, and accelerates scientific innovation in artificial intelligence, integrative medicine, biomedical sciences, and healthcare.

This policy aligns with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the FAIR Principles for Research Software, and international Open Science initiatives.

────────────────────────────────────────

1. Purpose

The objectives of this policy are to:

  • Promote reproducible computational research.

  • Encourage responsible sharing of research software.

  • Improve transparency in AI and biomedical research.

  • Facilitate independent validation of published findings.

  • Support international Open Science practices.

────────────────────────────────────────

2. Scope

This policy applies to manuscripts involving:

  • Artificial Intelligence.

  • Machine Learning.

  • Deep Learning.

  • Digital Health.

  • Bioinformatics.

  • Computational Biology.

  • Clinical Decision Support Systems.

  • Medical Image Analysis.

  • Health Informatics.

  • Statistical software and computational methods.

Authors are encouraged to share any software or code necessary to reproduce the reported results.

────────────────────────────────────────

3. Software and Code Availability Statement

Research articles involving software or computational analyses should include a Software and Code Availability Statement before the References section.

The statement should indicate whether the software or source code is:

  • Publicly available in a repository.

  • Available upon reasonable request.

  • Proprietary or commercially licensed.

  • Restricted because of legal, ethical, security, or intellectual property considerations.

  • Not applicable because no custom software or code was developed.

────────────────────────────────────────

4. Recommended Repositories

Authors are encouraged to deposit research software in recognized repositories, including:

  • GitHub

  • GitLab

  • Bitbucket

  • Zenodo

  • Figshare

  • Open Science Framework (OSF)

  • Institutional repositories

Where possible, authors should archive a stable release and obtain a persistent identifier such as a DOI.

────────────────────────────────────────

5. Documentation

Shared software should, where feasible, include:

  • Installation instructions.

  • User documentation.

  • Version information.

  • Software dependencies.

  • License information.

  • Example datasets or test files where appropriate.

Adequate documentation enhances reproducibility and usability.

────────────────────────────────────────

6. Licensing

Authors are encouraged to apply an appropriate open-source license to shared software, such as:

  • MIT License.

  • Apache License 2.0.

  • BSD License.

  • GNU General Public License (GPL).

The selected license should clearly specify the conditions governing reuse and distribution.

────────────────────────────────────────

7. Proprietary Software

Where proprietary software or legal restrictions prevent public release of source code, authors should clearly explain the limitations in the Software and Code Availability Statement.

Authors should provide sufficient methodological detail to allow readers to understand and evaluate the computational methods used.

────────────────────────────────────────

8. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for:

  • Providing accurate software availability information.

  • Maintaining the integrity of shared software.

  • Citing software appropriately.

  • Documenting computational methods.

  • Complying with applicable licensing, ethical, and legal requirements.

────────────────────────────────────────

9. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors may assess Software and Code Availability Statements during editorial review and request clarification where necessary.

The availability of software or code will not, by itself, determine editorial decisions, which remain based on scientific quality, originality, and ethical compliance.

────────────────────────────────────────

10. Commitment to Reproducible Computational Research

The Journal of Climate Informatics and Artificial Intelligence (JCIAI) supports transparent and reproducible computational science by encouraging responsible sharing of research software, source code, and computational workflows.

By promoting open and well-documented software, JCIAI aims to strengthen scientific integrity, foster collaboration, and accelerate innovation in artificial intelligence, integrative medicine, and biomedical research for the benefit of the global scientific community.