Popular tools
Software tools
It is impossible to build an exhaustive list of available open research software. Explore the list of tools below for examples of notable software tools that you can use in your research projects.
Jamovi is used for:
- statistical analysis
- spreadsheet and reports.
Use instead of SPSS.
It is financially supported by donations.
Help materials
Access Jamovi.
Julia is a dynamic programming language focused on numerical analysis. It can be used for:
- data mining
- data science
- machine learning.
It is financially supported by contributions via NumFOCUS.
Help materials
Access Julia.
OpenRefine can be used to clean, process and reconcile tabular data.
It is powerful for:
- data wrangling
- normalising
- spreadsheets
- analysing data from websites.
It is financially supported by Code for Science and Society and donations via OpenCollective.
Help materials
Access OpenRefine.
Overleaf can be used for:
- collaborative, online writing and editing in LaTeX
- writing papers and reports, especially for journals
- creating mathematical formulas.
It is financially supported by Overleaf subscriptions.
Help materials
Access Overleaf.
Python is a general programming language widely used for data science. It can be used for:
- conducting data analysis
- automating tasks
- building websites and software.
It is financially supported by Python Software Foundation and numerous contributors.
Help materials
Access Python.
R is a statistical programming language. It can be used for:
- data processing and analytics
- modelling
- visualisation
- report authoring
- dashboard development.
It is financially supported by R Consortium, ROpenSci, RStudio and numerous contributors.
Help materials
Access R.
Taguette is a text tagging tool. It can be used for:
- qualitative data analysis
- coding textual data
- tagging and highlighting.
It is financially supported by donations via OpenCollective.
Help materials
Access Taguette.
QGIS is a Geographic Information System. It has:
- extensive cartographic features
- many extensions.
It is financially supported by private and public donors.
Help materials
Access QGIS.
Voyant Tools can be used for:
- text analysis of digital humanities
- targe scale analysis of a corpus of texts
- ‘distant reading’
- composition of visual dashboards.
It is financially supported by the Voyant Consortium.
Help materials
Access Voyant Tools.
TensorFlow can be used for:
- developing machine learning applications
- neural networks
- analysing data.
It is financially supported by its open source community.
Help materials
Access TensorFlow.
Zotero is a reference manager tool. It can be used for:
- collecting
- organising
- annotating
- citing references.
It is financially supported by donors, subscriptions to cloud storage, and the Corporation for Digital Scholarship.
Help materials
Access Zotero.