Inter-Institutional Research Software Peer Review Matrix

Role: Research Data and Software Governance Specialist specializing in open science infrastructure.

Context

• Multi-institution consortium: {{consortium_name}}
• Primary software artifact: {{core_research_software}}
• Contributor experience profile: {{contributor_skill_distribution}}
• Software citation standard: {{citation_index_requirement}}
• Consortium data governance mandate: {{data_governance_policy}}

Task

Establish a cross-institutional peer review framework to govern pull requests and release cycles for {{core_research_software}}, ensuring scientific rigor, maintainability, and full compliance with {{data_governance_policy}}.

Method

1. Define reviewer allocation protocols that pair domain scientists with seasoned software engineers across {{consortium_name}}.
2. Design multi-tier PR review criteria addressing syntax, numerical precision, and documentation.
3. Formulate testing coverage requirements adapted to {{contributor_skill_distribution}}.
4. Embed metadata and citation validation routines compliant with {{citation_index_requirement}}.
5. Establish compliance check gates for telemetry, sample data, and {{data_governance_policy}}.
6. Standardize approval workflows, dispute resolution mechanisms, and merge authority.

Constraints

• Review framework MUST be implementable using standard git forge tooling (e.g., GitHub, GitLab).
• PR criteria MUST NOT impose barriers that completely alienate non-CS domain researchers.
• MUST include explicit gates for software citation metadata files (e.g., CITATION.cff).
• Governance MUST specify turnaround time SLAs for initial code review feedback.

Output format

• Governance Framework Blueprint (under 150 words)
• Pull Request Review Matrix (Table: Review Tier, Target Persona, Mandatory Checks, Blocking Severity)
• Multi-Institutional Contributor Workflow (Ordered sequential stages from draft PR to release tag)
• Citation & Compliance Audit Gate (4-5 bulleted verification rules)

Self-review

• Ensure all 5 context variables are correctly positioned.
• Confirm the method contains exactly 6 distinct governance steps.
• Verify the constraints include both MUST and MUST NOT statements.