Citing software

Cite others' software

It is important to cite the creators of any open research software to recognise other researchers' and software engineers’ work and clarify exactly what tools (and which versions) you used to reach your research project’s conclusions.

Look for the correct citation information. It will usually be provided: 

  • through a menu when using the tool
  • in the tool’s documentation
  • via a file in the code repository e.g. a readme file, a citation.cff file (using the Citation File Format) or a plain-text citation file
  • by an article citation, if it is a published software tool article 
  • in the published metadata record for the software, if it has been indexed in a repository.

Refer to the Software Citation Principles for guidance on how to correctly cite software.

For example:

Bozec, Yves-Marie, Hock, Karlo, Mason, Robert A. B., Baird, Mark E., Castro-Sanguino, Carolina, Condie, Scott A., Puotinen, Marji, Thompson, Angus, & Mumby, Peter J. (2021). Code of the simulation model ReefMod-GBR (REEFMOD.6.4) (v.1.0.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5146037

Citing modular packages and ecosystems

When using a modular ecosystem of packages (like Julia, R, or Python), it is important to cite both the programming language and the packages used.

Consider including the dependency tree for your tool as a supplementary resource of your publication. For example, for R packages, researchers should cite the version of R and packages used and mention all dependencies. 

Visit Research software citation for more information.

Cite your software

Include a software citation in the reference list of your publication where the software or code you have published is an integral part of your research. 

Benefits of citing your software

Citing your research software, code or algorithms will help you:

  • get recognition and attribution for your work
  • track the reuse of any software you publish to determine research impact 
  • verify how your software is being used in other research
  • enhance replication and reproducibility of your research.

Software citation elements

A software citation is similar to citations for publications and datasets. Include the following core elements in your software citation:

  • authors/creators
  • publication year
  • title 
  • version number
  • publisher or repository
  • Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

Details on formatting a citation or citation statement is available from the Australian Research Data Commons.

Publish and share your open research software has more information on how to make your software citable.