FindResearch.org is a resource for sharing links to research artifacts, the code and data that back up the results in published research papers. Such sharing is a necessary prerequisite for colleagues being able to repeat and reproduce published research.

A common approach to conducting applied Computer Science research is to build a computing system (the “research artifact”) using a specific methodology, to study and measure the behavior of the artifact, and to draw conclusions as to how well the methodology is able to construct correct/scalable/secure systems. Unfortunately, because of the inherent complexity of computing systems, the data collected from such an artifact can be affected by tiny variations in how it is implemented and the environments in which it is run. Consequently, in order to have full confidence in the research, colleagues must be given the opportunity to verify (or falsify) the results using the actual code and data used in the production of the research.

FindResearch.org collects links to research artifacts in two steps: we first semi-automatically extract the required information (links to artifacts, author email addresses, etc.) from the published papers themselves, and then send the authors an email asking them to verify or update the information. The resulting data is published on our website.

The ultimate goal of the work we do here is to make sharing of artifacts the default mode under which all computer science researchers operate. Such transparency would be truly transformative: it would increase the general public’s trust in researchers and the work that they do, it would improve the quality of published research since researchers would be encouraged to share high quality artifacts, and it would ensure that researchers have all the materials necessary available to replicate and reproduce the work of their colleagues. Furthermore, the data we collect will provide funding agencies and the public the longitudinal data necessary to evaluate how the Computer Science research community is progressing, and to evaluate the effectiveness of our collective efforts in improving sharing and repeatability.

Today, as we are launching FindResearch.org, we are covering approximately 5000 papers spanning 45 conferences. In order to expand this to cover the majority of the top publication venues in Computer Science, we will be connecting with journal editors and chairs of conference program committees. With their help we believe FindResearch.org can become a truly universal resource for the sharing of research artifacts.