A Systematic Literature Review on Requirements Engineering Practices and Challenges in Open-Source Projects

Abstract

Open-source software (OSS) development has become increasingly influential in the software industry, promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing among developers and users. Along with rapidly evolving OSS projects, this paper explores requirements engineering (RE) practices and challenges through a systematic literature review (SLR). Synthesizing data from 43 selected papers, the study reports practices, techniques, and methods that assist RE activities in OSS projects, and also addresses challenges faced by practitioners and the potential solutions. The results of the literature review indicate a growing interest in using machine learning and statistical methods to assist RE activities, focusing on automated requirements identification and analysis using information from project discussion forums, issue reports, and other online resources. The findings also highlight the importance of community involvement, with many studies examining developers’ interaction patterns, expertise levels, and influence on projects. These findings provide valuable insights for OSS project managers and researchers, offering guidance on effectively handling requirements in OSS projects.