Disciplinary differences of software use and impact in scientific literature

Abstract

Software plays an important role in the advancement of science. Software developers, users, and funding agencies have deep interests in the impact of software on science. This study investigates the use and impact of software by examining how software is mentioned and cited among 9548 articles published in PLOS ONE in 12 defined disciplines. Our results demonstrate that software is widely used in scientific research and a substantial uncitedness of software exists across different disciplines. Findings also show that the practice of software citations varies noticeably at the discipline level and software that is free for academic use is more likely to receive citations than commercial software.