Investigating the Use of Research Software by Postgraduates in Computer Science
Resumo
This article investigates the challenges and benefits associated with the use of research software by master’s and doctoral graduate students in Computer Science. The study was conducted through a survey with 186 respondents, involving quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The results highlight difficulties related to the complexity of the tools, the learning curve, and integration with academic workflows. The research offers practical support for developers, institutions, and researchers, aiming at a more effective adoption of these technologies in the academic context.
Palavras-chave:
Research software, Survey, Computer science, Postgraduate students
Referências
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Barker, M., Chue Hong, N. P., Katz, D. S., Lamprecht, A.-L., Martinez-Ortiz, C., Psomopoulos, F., Harrow, J., Castro, L. J., Gruenpeter, M., Martinez, P. A., et al. (2022). Introducing the fair principles for research software. Scientific Data, 9(1):622.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2):77–101.
Crouch, S., Hong, N. C., Hettrick, S., Jackson, M., Pawlik, A., Sufi, S., Carr, L., De Roure, D., Goble, C. A., and Parsons, M. (2014). The software sustainability institute: Changing research software attitudes and practices. Computing in Science & Engineering, 15(6):74–80.
Eisty, N. U. and Carver, J. C. (2022). Developers perception of peer code review in research software development. Empirical Software Engineering, 27(1):1–26.
Eisty, N. U., Kanewala, U., and Carver, J. C. (2025). Testing research software: an in-depth survey of practices, methods, and tools. Empirical Software Engineering.
Eisty, N. U., Thiruvathukal, G. K., and Carver, J. C. (2018a). A survey of software metric use in research software development. In 2018 IEEE 14th international conference on e-Science (e-Science), pages 212–222. IEEE.
Eisty, N. U., Thiruvathukal, G. K., and Carver, J. C. (2018b). A survey of software metric use in research software development. In 2018 IEEE 14th international conference on e-Science (e-Science), pages 212–222. IEEE.
Emanuel, J. (2013). Users and citation management tools: Use and support. Reference Services Review, 41(4):639–659.
Francese, E. (2013). Usage of reference management software at the university of torino. JLIS: Italian Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science=Rivista italiana di biblioteconomia, archivistica e scienza dell’informazione: 4, 2, 2013, pages 145–174.
Giordano, R. B. and Biolchini, J. C. d. A. (2012). Busca e recuperação da informação científica na web: comportamento informacional de profissionais da informação.
Gomes, D. L., Alegria, C. B., and Barros, T. H. B. (2018). O uso de ferramentas de busca e acesso a artigos científicos pelos pesquisadores brasileiros. Informação & Sociedade.
Hannay, J. E., MacLeod, C., Singer, J., Langtangen, H. P., Pfahl, D., and Wilson, G. (2009). How do scientists develop and use scientific software? In 2009 ICSE workshop on software engineering for computational science and engineering, pages 1–8. Ieee.
Hemminger, B. M., Lu, D., Vaughan, K., and Adams, S. J. (2007). Information seeking behavior of academic scientists. Journal of the American society for information science and technology, 58(14):2205–2225.
Hendal, B. A. (2019). Kuwait university faculty usage and perspectives of reference management software. Open Access Library Journal, 6(8):1–11.
Henderson, M., Selwyn, N., Finger, G., and Aston, R. (2015). Students’ everyday engagement with digital technology in university: exploring patterns of use and ‘usefulness’. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(3):308–319.
Joshi, A., Kale, S., Chandel, S., and Pal, D. K. (2015). Likert scale: Explored and explained. British journal of applied science & technology, 7(4):396.
Katz, D. S., McHenry, K., Reinking, C., and Haines, R. (2019). Research software development & management in universities: case studies from manchester’s rsds group, illinois’ ncsa, and notre dame’s crc. In 2019 IEEE/ACM 14th International Workshop on Software Engineering for Science (SE4Science), pages 17–24. IEEE.
Lonergan, N. (2017). Reference management software preferences among liberal arts faculty. Reference Services Review, 45(4):584–595.
Madhusudhan, M. (2016). Use of online citation tools by students and research scholars of department of library and information science, university of delhi. DESIDOC Journal of library & information technology, 36(3).
Melles, A. and Unsworth, K. (2015). Examining the reference management practices of humanities and social science postgraduate students and academics. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 46(4):250–276.
Mourão, E., Trevisan, D., Viterbo, J., and Pantoja, C. E. (2023). Investigating developers’ perception on success factors for research software development. In Janssen, M., Pinheiro, L., Matheus, R., Frankenberger, F., Dwivedi, Y. K., Pappas, I. O., and Mäntymäki, M., editors, New Sustainable Horizons in Artificial Intelligence and Digital Solutions, pages 14–26, Cham. Springer Nature Switzerland.
Mourão, E., Trevisan, D., Viterbo, J., and Pantoja, C. E. (2024). A systematic mapping study on the use and development of research software. In Rocha, Á., Ferrás, C., Hochstetter Diez, J., and Diéguez Rebolledo, M., editors, Information Technology and Systems, pages 129–138, Cham. Springer Nature Switzerland.
Mourão, E., Trevisan, D., Viterbo, J., Sobral, A. P. B., da Silva, M., and Pantoja, C. E. (2025). Investigating the adoption of research software: From success factors to challenges faced by brazilian academic researchers. Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development, 13(1):13–218.
Nangia, U. and Katz, D. S. (2017). Understanding software in research: Initial results from examining nature and a call for collaboration. In 2017 IEEE 13th international conference on e-science (e-science), pages 486–487. IEEE.
Nicholas, D., Boukacem-Zeghmouri, C., Rodríguez-Bravo, B., Xu, J., Watkinson, A., Abrizah, A., Herman, E., and Świgoń, M. (2017). Where and how early career researchers find scholarly information. Learned Publishing, 30(1):19–29.
Nilashi, M., Ibrahim, O., Sohaei, S., Ahmadi, H., and Almaee, A. (2016). Features influencing researchers’ selection of reference management software. Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, 15(03):1650032.
Nitsos, I., Malliari, A., and Chamouroudi, R. (2022). Use of reference management software among postgraduate students in greece. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 54(1):95–107.
Niu, X., Hemminger, B. M., Lown, C., Adams, S., Brown, C., Level, A., McLure, M., Powers, A., Tennant, M. R., and Cataldo, T. (2010). National study of information seeking behavior of academic researchers in the united states. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(5):869–890.
Sarrafzadeh, M. and Khaleghi, N. (2017). Instruction of citation management tools by academic librarians: The need for training the trainers. Webology, 14(1).
Singh, A. K., Mahawar, K., and Singh, V. (2022). Adoptions of reference management software among the research scholars of india. Alexandria, 32(2-3):61–76.
Sochat, V., May, N., Cosden, I., Martinez-Ortiz, C., and Bartholomew, S. (2022). The research software encyclopedia: a community framework to define research software. Journal of Open Research Software.
Speare, M. (2018). Graduate student use and non-use of reference and pdf management software: An exploratory study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship.
Stefanovic, D., Havzi, S., Nikolic, D., Dakic, D., and Lolic, T. (2021). Analysis of the tools to support systematic literature review in software engineering. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. IOP Publishing.
Vasconcelos, L., Trevisan, D., and Viterbo, J. (2022). Applying the engagement by design methodology: perceptions and lessons learned. In Proceedings of the 21st Brazilian symposium on human factors in computing systems, pages 1–10.
Vasconcelos, L., Zahn, J., Trevisan, D., and Viterbo, J. (2024). Engagement by design cards: A tool to involve designers and non-experts in the design of crowdsourcing initiatives. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 182:103166.
Wohlin, C., Runeson, P., Höst, M., Ohlsson, M. C., Regnell, B., and Wesslén, A. (2012). Experimentation in Software Engineering. Springer Science & Business Media.
Y. Shigihara, J. V. e. E. M. (2025). Research software used by computer science graduate students. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17419330.
Barker, M., Chue Hong, N. P., Katz, D. S., Lamprecht, A.-L., Martinez-Ortiz, C., Psomopoulos, F., Harrow, J., Castro, L. J., Gruenpeter, M., Martinez, P. A., et al. (2022). Introducing the fair principles for research software. Scientific Data, 9(1):622.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2):77–101.
Crouch, S., Hong, N. C., Hettrick, S., Jackson, M., Pawlik, A., Sufi, S., Carr, L., De Roure, D., Goble, C. A., and Parsons, M. (2014). The software sustainability institute: Changing research software attitudes and practices. Computing in Science & Engineering, 15(6):74–80.
Eisty, N. U. and Carver, J. C. (2022). Developers perception of peer code review in research software development. Empirical Software Engineering, 27(1):1–26.
Eisty, N. U., Kanewala, U., and Carver, J. C. (2025). Testing research software: an in-depth survey of practices, methods, and tools. Empirical Software Engineering.
Eisty, N. U., Thiruvathukal, G. K., and Carver, J. C. (2018a). A survey of software metric use in research software development. In 2018 IEEE 14th international conference on e-Science (e-Science), pages 212–222. IEEE.
Eisty, N. U., Thiruvathukal, G. K., and Carver, J. C. (2018b). A survey of software metric use in research software development. In 2018 IEEE 14th international conference on e-Science (e-Science), pages 212–222. IEEE.
Emanuel, J. (2013). Users and citation management tools: Use and support. Reference Services Review, 41(4):639–659.
Francese, E. (2013). Usage of reference management software at the university of torino. JLIS: Italian Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science=Rivista italiana di biblioteconomia, archivistica e scienza dell’informazione: 4, 2, 2013, pages 145–174.
Giordano, R. B. and Biolchini, J. C. d. A. (2012). Busca e recuperação da informação científica na web: comportamento informacional de profissionais da informação.
Gomes, D. L., Alegria, C. B., and Barros, T. H. B. (2018). O uso de ferramentas de busca e acesso a artigos científicos pelos pesquisadores brasileiros. Informação & Sociedade.
Hannay, J. E., MacLeod, C., Singer, J., Langtangen, H. P., Pfahl, D., and Wilson, G. (2009). How do scientists develop and use scientific software? In 2009 ICSE workshop on software engineering for computational science and engineering, pages 1–8. Ieee.
Hemminger, B. M., Lu, D., Vaughan, K., and Adams, S. J. (2007). Information seeking behavior of academic scientists. Journal of the American society for information science and technology, 58(14):2205–2225.
Hendal, B. A. (2019). Kuwait university faculty usage and perspectives of reference management software. Open Access Library Journal, 6(8):1–11.
Henderson, M., Selwyn, N., Finger, G., and Aston, R. (2015). Students’ everyday engagement with digital technology in university: exploring patterns of use and ‘usefulness’. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(3):308–319.
Joshi, A., Kale, S., Chandel, S., and Pal, D. K. (2015). Likert scale: Explored and explained. British journal of applied science & technology, 7(4):396.
Katz, D. S., McHenry, K., Reinking, C., and Haines, R. (2019). Research software development & management in universities: case studies from manchester’s rsds group, illinois’ ncsa, and notre dame’s crc. In 2019 IEEE/ACM 14th International Workshop on Software Engineering for Science (SE4Science), pages 17–24. IEEE.
Lonergan, N. (2017). Reference management software preferences among liberal arts faculty. Reference Services Review, 45(4):584–595.
Madhusudhan, M. (2016). Use of online citation tools by students and research scholars of department of library and information science, university of delhi. DESIDOC Journal of library & information technology, 36(3).
Melles, A. and Unsworth, K. (2015). Examining the reference management practices of humanities and social science postgraduate students and academics. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 46(4):250–276.
Mourão, E., Trevisan, D., Viterbo, J., and Pantoja, C. E. (2023). Investigating developers’ perception on success factors for research software development. In Janssen, M., Pinheiro, L., Matheus, R., Frankenberger, F., Dwivedi, Y. K., Pappas, I. O., and Mäntymäki, M., editors, New Sustainable Horizons in Artificial Intelligence and Digital Solutions, pages 14–26, Cham. Springer Nature Switzerland.
Mourão, E., Trevisan, D., Viterbo, J., and Pantoja, C. E. (2024). A systematic mapping study on the use and development of research software. In Rocha, Á., Ferrás, C., Hochstetter Diez, J., and Diéguez Rebolledo, M., editors, Information Technology and Systems, pages 129–138, Cham. Springer Nature Switzerland.
Mourão, E., Trevisan, D., Viterbo, J., Sobral, A. P. B., da Silva, M., and Pantoja, C. E. (2025). Investigating the adoption of research software: From success factors to challenges faced by brazilian academic researchers. Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development, 13(1):13–218.
Nangia, U. and Katz, D. S. (2017). Understanding software in research: Initial results from examining nature and a call for collaboration. In 2017 IEEE 13th international conference on e-science (e-science), pages 486–487. IEEE.
Nicholas, D., Boukacem-Zeghmouri, C., Rodríguez-Bravo, B., Xu, J., Watkinson, A., Abrizah, A., Herman, E., and Świgoń, M. (2017). Where and how early career researchers find scholarly information. Learned Publishing, 30(1):19–29.
Nilashi, M., Ibrahim, O., Sohaei, S., Ahmadi, H., and Almaee, A. (2016). Features influencing researchers’ selection of reference management software. Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, 15(03):1650032.
Nitsos, I., Malliari, A., and Chamouroudi, R. (2022). Use of reference management software among postgraduate students in greece. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 54(1):95–107.
Niu, X., Hemminger, B. M., Lown, C., Adams, S., Brown, C., Level, A., McLure, M., Powers, A., Tennant, M. R., and Cataldo, T. (2010). National study of information seeking behavior of academic researchers in the united states. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(5):869–890.
Sarrafzadeh, M. and Khaleghi, N. (2017). Instruction of citation management tools by academic librarians: The need for training the trainers. Webology, 14(1).
Singh, A. K., Mahawar, K., and Singh, V. (2022). Adoptions of reference management software among the research scholars of india. Alexandria, 32(2-3):61–76.
Sochat, V., May, N., Cosden, I., Martinez-Ortiz, C., and Bartholomew, S. (2022). The research software encyclopedia: a community framework to define research software. Journal of Open Research Software.
Speare, M. (2018). Graduate student use and non-use of reference and pdf management software: An exploratory study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship.
Stefanovic, D., Havzi, S., Nikolic, D., Dakic, D., and Lolic, T. (2021). Analysis of the tools to support systematic literature review in software engineering. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. IOP Publishing.
Vasconcelos, L., Trevisan, D., and Viterbo, J. (2022). Applying the engagement by design methodology: perceptions and lessons learned. In Proceedings of the 21st Brazilian symposium on human factors in computing systems, pages 1–10.
Vasconcelos, L., Zahn, J., Trevisan, D., and Viterbo, J. (2024). Engagement by design cards: A tool to involve designers and non-experts in the design of crowdsourcing initiatives. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 182:103166.
Wohlin, C., Runeson, P., Höst, M., Ohlsson, M. C., Regnell, B., and Wesslén, A. (2012). Experimentation in Software Engineering. Springer Science & Business Media.
Y. Shigihara, J. V. e. E. M. (2025). Research software used by computer science graduate students. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17419330.
Publicado
08/06/2026
Como Citar
SHIGIHARA, Yukio; MOURÃO, Érica; VITERBO, José; VASCONCELOS, Leonardo.
Investigating the Use of Research Software by Postgraduates in Computer Science. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE SISTEMAS COLABORATIVOS (SBSC), 21. , 2026, Porto Alegre/RS.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2026
.
p. 13-24.
ISSN 2326-2842.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbsc.2026.19713.
