How to Cite PlantCV
PlantCV is an open-source software package. Citing PlantCV helps us track its impact secure funding for continued development, learn more about your research, and decide on new tools to develop
In addition to mentioning PlantCV in your Methods, please cite the following publications as appropriate:
If you are using PlantCV v3, v4, or later, please cite:
Schuhl H, Brown KE, Sheng H, Bhatt PK, Gutierrez J, Schneider D, Casto AL, Acosta-Gamboa L, Ballenger JG, Barbero F, Braley J, Brown AM, Chavez L, Cunningham S, Dilhara M, Dimech AM, Duenwald JG, Fischer A, Gordon JM, Hendrikse C, Hernandez GL, Hodge JG, Huber M, Hurr BM, Jarolmasjed S, Medina Jimenez K, Kenney S, Konkel G, Kutschera A, Lama S, Lohbihler M, Lorence A, Luebbert C, Ly N, Manching HK, Marrano A, Meerdink S, Miklave NM, Mudrageda P, Murphy KM, Peery JD, Pierik R, Polydore S, Robey C, Rogers T, Schultz TJ, Seigel E, Srivastava D, Summerer S, Sumner J, Teng C, Thompson AE, Tovar JC, van Daalen T, Watson M, Wheeler JJ, Wilson MC, Ying KR, Zare A, Zhou Y, Gehan MA, Fahlgren N. PlantCV v4: Image analysis software for high-throughput plant phenotyping. bioRxiv. 2025. p. 2025.11.19.689271. doi:10.1101/2025.11.19.689271
If you are using PlantCV v2, please cite:
Gehan MA, Fahlgren N, Abbasi A, Berry JC, Callen ST, Chavez L, Doust AN, Feldman MJ, Gilbert KB, Hodge JG, Hoyer JS, Lin A, Liu S, Lizárraga C, Lorence A, Miller M, Platon E, Tessman M, Sax T. 2017. PlantCV v2: Image analysis software for high-throughput plant phenotyping. PeerJ 5:e4088. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4088.
For unique applications, features, and workflows that you use in your publication, please check our publications page for the relevant citation.
Citing PlantCV in Publications
Tips for putting PlantCV in a methods section
When using PlantCV in your research, it is best practice to include a statement in your Methods section similar to the following:
“Image analysis was performed using PlantCV version X.X.X.”
We encourage you to share your scripts, workflows, and raw data within your Supplemental documents or via repositories such as Zenodo or GitHub. To increase the visibility of your research, we welcome you to contribute your workflow(s) as a tutorial. Instructions for creating your own tutorial are here. For support, please contact us.