The EVERSE Reference Framework establishes quality assessment standards for research software. It covers twelve quality dimensions — nine technical dimensions based on ISO/IEC 25010:2023, plus FAIRness, Open Source Software, and Sustainability — and provides four complementary views (three-tier model, software lifecycle, personas, and science clusters) to help different stakeholders apply them.
Read the framework: Latest version (PDF) · Stable release v2.1 on Zenodo
Version 2.1 (July 2025) — 
Each section has an owner responsible for its content. To claim a section, add yourself to the table and open a pull request.
| Name (optionally email) | GitHub username | Affiliation | Chapter and Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-1: Introduction (#4) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-2: Framework overview (#5) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-2: Technical dimensions (#6) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-2: FAIRness (#7) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-2: Open Source Software (#8) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-2: Sustainability (#9) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-3: Four Views overview (#10) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-3: Three-Tiers View (#11) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-3: Software Lifecycle View (#12) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-3: Personas View (#13) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-3: Science Clusters View (#14) |
| Your name | @username | Your affiliation | Chapter-4: Conclusions (#15) |
The document source is in source/ as Markdown files, combined by the Makefile. Output goes to build/.
Prerequisites: Pandoc 3.0+, LuaLaTeX (via TeX Live), GNU Make.
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install pandoc texlive-luatex texlive-latex-extra texlive-fonts-extra make
# macOS
brew install pandoc make && brew install --cask mactexmake pdf # Build PDF (default)
make html # Build single-file HTML
make markdown # Build combined Markdown
make clean # Remove build outputSee CONTRIBUTING.md. The main branch is work-in-progress for the next version; stable releases are published to Zenodo.
The RF provides conceptual foundations for the EVERSE ecosystem: RSQKit translates RF concepts into practical guidance, the Indicators repository is the canonical source for dimensions and indicators data, and QualityPipelines/resqui and DashVERSE provide automated assessment and visualisation.
For questions, open an issue or reach out to the maintainers: @gperu and @fdiblen.
EVERSE Consortium. (2025). EVERSE Reference Framework for Research Software Quality (v2.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15856368
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe programme, grant agreement No. 101129744 (EVERSE).