Software Development Methodology, Research-Based Software Project, Software Engineering, Project Management.

Software development in mid-sized or large-scale projects is usually carried by a group of individuals, whose coordination, choosing suitable development practices for the group and keeping track of the software development process are all challenging tasks. Software development methodologies are heavily utilized for these purposes. Although previously proposed methodologies manage to meet the needs of the industry, they are not tailored to do so for academicians developing research-based software projects at universities. Therefore, in this thesis, our first aim is to show the necessity of a new software development methodology for research-based projects carried by the universities. Then, through current literature, interviews and questionnaires, the needs and the best practices of research-based projects are collected using grounded theory qualitative method. Finally, after completing the analysis of the findings, a new software development methodology is proposed tailored to the needs of the researchers that are working on research-based software projects. The proposed methodology is evaluated by the experts and it is found useful for the research-based software projects. Collected issues and best-practices are proposed as a guideline for the project managers, team members, funding agencies, universities, and the end-users of research-based software projects. These guidelines can be utilized to increase the productiveness of such projects.