Preliminary guidelines for empirical research in software engineering

TLDR

Empirical software engineering research requires guidelines to enhance research and reporting processes. The authors propose preliminary guidelines to aid researchers, reviewers, meta‑analysts, and journal editors in designing, conducting, and evaluating empirical software engineering studies. The guidelines are derived from a review of medical research guidelines and the authors’ own experience in conducting and reviewing software engineering research.

Abstract

Empirical software engineering research needs research guidelines to improve the research and reporting processes. We propose a preliminary set of research guidelines aimed at stimulating discussion among software researchers. They are based on a review of research guidelines developed for medical researchers and on our own experience in doing and reviewing software engineering research. The guidelines are intended to assist researchers, reviewers, and meta-analysts in designing, conducting, and evaluating empirical studies. Editorial boards of software engineering journals may wish to use our recommendations as a basis for developing guidelines for reviewers and for framing policies for dealing with the design, data collection, and analysis and reporting of empirical studies.