AI research software CITATION.cff file generation

End-of-lesson check

15 questions · take it digitally for instant feedback at tendril.neural-forge.io/learn/quiz/end-research-ai-research-software-citation-file-creators

1. What is the primary purpose of a CITATION.cff file in a research software repository?

   1. To provide structured metadata so others can cite the software correctly
   2. To run the software on different operating systems
   3. To serve as the software's license agreement
   4. To automatically compile and upload source code to a repository

2. Which task can AI reliably perform when generating a CITATION.cff file?

   1. Mint a new DOI for the software release
   2. Determine the order of authors by contribution level
   3. Format author names with their ORCIDs according to CFF schema
   4. Decide who should be listed as an author based on contribution

3. If a research software project has an associated published paper, what should be included in the CITATION.cff?

   1. The paper's peer review reports
   2. A preferred-citation block referencing the paper
   3. A binary copy of the paper's PDF
   4. The full text of the paper embedded in the file

4. What information can AI extract from a repository to help generate a CITATION.cff?

   1. Contributor list, existing metadata, and version information
   2. The number of GitHub stars or forks
   3. The exact dollar amount of funding received
   4. Names of all users who have downloaded the software

5. Which of the following is something AI CANNOT do when creating a CITATION.cff file?

   1. Format authors with ORCIDs in CFF schema
   2. Validate against the CFF schema before commit
   3. Mint a DOI for the software release
   4. Include a preferred-citation block when a paper exists

6. What does the CFF schema validation ensure for a CITATION.cff file?

   1. That the software will run without errors
   2. That the file follows the correct format and contains required fields
   3. That the ORCIDs belong to real people
   4. That all cited papers are peer-reviewed

7. Who must make the final decision about author order in a software project's CITATION.cff?

   1. The human team, not AI
   2. The first person who committed code
   3. The AI that generated the file
   4. The repository hosting service

8. What is an ORCID in the context of software citation?

   1. A persistent digital identifier that uniquely distinguishes researchers
   2. A file format for storing code
   3. A type of software license
   4. A repository hosting platform

9. When should a DOI be included in a CITATION.cff file?

   1. Before any code is written
   2. Only if the software has zero users
   3. After it has been minted through an authorized service
   4. Whenever the AI generates the file

10. What happens if the human team disagrees about who should be credited as an author?

    1. The citation file will be rejected by the hosting platform
    2. The AI will automatically choose the most active contributor
    3. AI cannot resolve this — the team must reach consensus
    4. The repository will block any commit until resolved

11. Which fields are typically included in a valid CITATION.cff for research software?

    1. A list of all dependencies and their license costs
    2. The computational requirements to run the software
    3. Authors with ORCIDs, version number, release date, and optionally DOI
    4. The full source code of the software

12. What is the advantage of including a preferred-citation block in a CITATION.cff?

    1. It increases the download count of the software
    2. It prevents others from modifying the source code
    3. It automatically translates the code into different programming languages
    4. It tells citation managers which format to use when users cite the work

13. A student wants to use AI to generate a CITATION.cff for their open-source research tool. What can they reasonably expect AI to do?

    1. Create a new DOI for their project
    2. Format the file correctly and populate fields from available metadata
    3. Determine which contributors deserve authorship
    4. Override the existing license with a better one

14. Why might a research team choose NOT to include a preferred-citation block in their CITATION.cff?

    1. Because they want users to cite the software directly
    2. Because ORCIDs are not available
    3. Because no associated paper exists for the software
    4. Because the CFF schema forbids it

15. What is the relationship between CITATION.cff and software citation?

    1. CITATION.cff replaces the need for DOIs in research software
    2. CITATION.cff is a type of academic journal for software research
    3. CITATION.cff is required by all open-source licenses
    4. CITATION.cff is a file format that implements machine-readable software citation