Creating paper on software tool

Question

In my master thesis I developed a software tool that improves a common workflow used in a certain industry. Currently, no such tool exists, and this workflow is conducted manually all around the globe. I am currently in the finalization phase of my thesis and my supervisor told me to write a paper on the tool and the worflow improvement.

Now here is my Problem:

• I have the tool and I can show that the workflow is performed better with it (our industry partner puts almost no limits on use cases, interviews, etc)
• I have no idea how properly package this into a paper (also, what to objectively measure to "proof" the improvement)

Could someone please point out a few "good" papers, where a software tool was created for a problem domain (where no such tool existed before) and evaluated so that I can learn from it's structure, the approach and the proper "packaging" of the entire paper?

Answer 1

Although I don't have any specific tips on structuring this type of paper, you might be interested in this list of journals that focus on publishing scientific software. You should be able to find lots of examples of "software" papers there. Those papers that I have read in Methods in Ecology and Evolution have been particularly high quality, and you might try starting there.

Answer 2

If you just want to write a paper on the software itself, the list provided in user4936 answer is perfectly fine.

If you want to conduct a research on how the tool actually enhanced certain processes in a firm, you might go for a paper in an Information Systems venue.

Start looking for articles in what you can access of the Top 8 journals for IS. Look for "decision support system" and add some of your paper's keywords. You will find plenty of papers with methodologies.

Be aware that IS venues demand very strong theoretical background and motivation for a study. They like theory a lot. So, be prepared to read a lot and to write a lot :-)