F1000Research 2018, 7(ELIXIR):742
Software Containers are changing the way scientists and researchers develop,
deploy and exchange scientific software. They allow labs of all sizes to easily
install bioinformatics software, maintain multiple versions of the same software
and combine tools into powerful analysis pipelines. However, containers and
software packages should be produced under certain rules and standards in
order to be reusable, compatible and easy to integrate into pipelines and
analysis workflows. Here, we presented a set of recommendations developed
by the BioContainers Community to produce standardized bioinformatics
packages and containers. These recommendations provide practical guidelines
to make bioinformatics software more discoverable, reusable and transparent.
They are aimed to guide developers, organisations, journals and funders to
increase the quality and sustainability of research software.