Journal profile
Software
ISSN 2674-113X · MDPI AG · Switzerland
Software: fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 6 weeks (community reports); 34 articles in 2025.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Software is published by MDPI AG. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Software Engineering Techniques and Practices, Software Engineering Research and Advanced Software Engineering Methodologies, together about 49% of its articles. Its main subfields are Information Systems. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The main subject areas include, but are not limited to, the following: Software requirements, design, architecture, development, testing, verification, validation, defect prediction, debugging, maintenance, and evolution; Software security, privacy, quality, and malware analysis; Software metrics, analytics, and data repository; Continuous software engineering, agile, model-driven, and service-oriented software development methods and tools; DevOps; Public sector software systems, software procurement, open-source software platforms; Requirements engineering; Programming languages, code assessment, and tools; Artificial Intelligence in software engineering; Fog/edge/cloud computing in software engineering; Software engineering for education, business, and society; Empirical software engineering; Software business, ecosystems, software startups, startup software engineering; Software product management, software engineering economics; Software platforms; Behavioral software engineering, human factors of software engineering; Ethical aspects of software engineering; Emerging trends and research areas.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief Mirko ViroliPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 3%); most named Italy 13, United States 5, Ireland 2, Mainland China 1, Japan 1 (29 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Software Engineering Techniques and PracticesComputer Science20.3%
- Software Engineering ResearchComputer Science16.4%
- Advanced Software Engineering MethodologiesComputer Science12.2%
- Software Testing and Debugging TechniquesComputer Science8%
- Model-Driven Software Engineering TechniquesComputer Science6.6%
- Logic, programming, and type systemsComputer Science5.2%
- Software System Performance and ReliabilityComputer Science3.2%
- Formal Methods in VerificationComputer Science2.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
DOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ScopusPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- h-index
- 13OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 18OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.36OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 154 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 48 | 48 | 224 |
| 2025 | 34 | 34 | 200 |
| 2024 | 29 | 29 | 104 |
| 2023 | 22 | 22 | 74 |
| 2022 | 21 | 21 | 16 |
| 2021 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 6 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 21.3 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 4.9 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication
- 60 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | CHF 1,000 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 1,000 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 1,000 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted4
- articleArticle: These are original research manuscripts. The work should report scientifically sound experiments and provide a substantial amount of new information.Length not stated
- editorialAll peer-reviewed articles published by MDPI are assessed by our independent Academic Editors, and MDPI staff are not involved in any editorial decisions regard…Length not stated
- reviewReview: Reviews offer a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature within a field of study, identifying current gaps or problems.Length not stated
- scoping reviewA Scoping Review type can be submitted as a Review.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Open data sharing encouraged; data should be FAIR and deposited in trusted repositories. Model summary
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
MDPI is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification,…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Software will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and c…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
Free format submission accepted; required sections must be present. Model summary
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Software accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independent…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2674-113X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 5 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Software
How long does peer review take at Software?
Authors report an average review time of about 6 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Software?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Software based?
Of the 29 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Italy (13), United States (5) and Ireland (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Software?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Software is indexed in DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Scopus; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Software open access, and what is the APC?
Software is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .