{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4412039759","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5","title":"Understanding practitioners\u2019 reasoning and requirements for efficient tool support in technical debt management","display_name":"Understanding practitioners\u2019 reasoning and requirements for efficient tool support in technical debt management","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-07-04","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4412039759","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S109852484","display_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","issn_l":"1382-3256","issn":["1382-3256","1573-7616"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5.pdf","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5081561770","display_name":"Jo\u00e3o Paulo Biazotto","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4075-3456"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I169381384","display_name":"University of Groningen","ror":"https://ror.org/012p63287","country_code":"NL","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I169381384"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210086947","display_name":"Institute of Physics","ror":"https://ror.org/000sfad56","country_code":"PL","type":"facility","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210086947","https://openalex.org/I99542240"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210092357","display_name":"Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science","ror":"https://ror.org/00fy4at53","country_code":"MD","type":"facility","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I112090838","https://openalex.org/I4210092357"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210131883","display_name":"Brazilian Society of Computational and Applied Mathematics","ror":"https://ror.org/03kcw4w74","country_code":"BR","type":"other","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210131883"]}],"countries":["BR","MD","NL","PL"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Jo\u00e3o Paulo Biazotto","raw_affiliation_strings":["Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands","Institute of Mathematics and Computational Sciences, University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Carlos, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4075-3456","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I169381384"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Institute of Mathematics and Computational Sciences, University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Carlos, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210086947","https://openalex.org/I4210092357","https://openalex.org/I4210131883"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5008359300","display_name":"Daniel Feitosa","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9371-232X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I169381384","display_name":"University of Groningen","ror":"https://ror.org/012p63287","country_code":"NL","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I169381384"]}],"countries":["NL"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Daniel Feitosa","raw_affiliation_strings":["Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9371-232X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I169381384"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5083888080","display_name":"Paris Avgeriou","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7101-0754"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I169381384","display_name":"University of Groningen","ror":"https://ror.org/012p63287","country_code":"NL","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I169381384"]}],"countries":["NL"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Paris Avgeriou","raw_affiliation_strings":["Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7101-0754","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I169381384"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5051850325","display_name":"Elisa Yumi Nakagawa","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7754-4298"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210086947","display_name":"Institute of Physics","ror":"https://ror.org/000sfad56","country_code":"PL","type":"facility","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210086947","https://openalex.org/I99542240"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210092357","display_name":"Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science","ror":"https://ror.org/00fy4at53","country_code":"MD","type":"facility","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I112090838","https://openalex.org/I4210092357"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210131883","display_name":"Brazilian Society of Computational and Applied Mathematics","ror":"https://ror.org/03kcw4w74","country_code":"BR","type":"other","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210131883"]}],"countries":["BR","MD","PL"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Elisa Yumi Nakagawa","raw_affiliation_strings":["Institute of Mathematics and Computational Sciences, University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Carlos, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7754-4298","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Institute of Mathematics and Computational Sciences, University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Carlos, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210086947","https://openalex.org/I4210092357","https://openalex.org/I4210131883"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":4,"institutions_distinct_count":4,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5081561770"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I169381384","https://openalex.org/I4210086947","https://openalex.org/I4210092357","https://openalex.org/I4210131883"],"apc_list":{"value":2890,"currency":"USD","value_usd":2890},"apc_paid":{"value":2890,"currency":"USD","value_usd":2890},"fwci":9.5197,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":5,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.97674019,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":91,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":"30","issue":"5","first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.9821000099182129,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.9821000099182129,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11938","display_name":"ERP Systems Implementation and Impact","score":0.9713000059127808,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1404","display_name":"Management Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/14","display_name":"Business, Management and Accounting"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10703","display_name":"Business Process Modeling and Analysis","score":0.9560999870300293,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1404","display_name":"Management Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/14","display_name":"Business, Management and Accounting"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/process-management","display_name":"Process management","score":0.42074090242385864},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.4202621877193451},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/systems-engineering","display_name":"Systems engineering","score":0.4159776568412781},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/knowledge-management","display_name":"Knowledge management","score":0.37035906314849854},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/engineering-management","display_name":"Engineering management","score":0.3536915183067322},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/engineering","display_name":"Engineering","score":0.310088574886322}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C195094911","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14167904","display_name":"Process management","level":1,"score":0.42074090242385864},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.4202621877193451},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C201995342","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q682496","display_name":"Systems engineering","level":1,"score":0.4159776568412781},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C56739046","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192060","display_name":"Knowledge management","level":1,"score":0.37035906314849854},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C110354214","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6314146","display_name":"Engineering management","level":1,"score":0.3536915183067322},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127413603","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11023","display_name":"Engineering","level":0,"score":0.310088574886322}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S109852484","display_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","issn_l":"1382-3256","issn":["1382-3256","1573-7616"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:pure.rug.nl:openaire/5b745373-603c-444c-9eef-7a3fbb0c276c","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/5b745373-603c-444c-9eef-7a3fbb0c276c","pdf_url":"https://research.rug.nl/files/1401426232/s10664-025-10691-5.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400420","display_name":"University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I169381384","host_organization_name":"University of Groningen","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I169381384"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Biazotto, J P, Feitosa, D, Avgeriou, P & Nakagawa, E Y 2025, 'Understanding practitioners\u2019 reasoning and requirements for efficient tool support in technical debt management', Empirical Software Engineering, vol. 30, no. 5, 134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5","raw_type":"info:eu-repo/semantics/article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10664-025-10691-5.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S109852484","display_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","issn_l":"1382-3256","issn":["1382-3256","1573-7616"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G29316538","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"(code 001)","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321091","funder_display_name":"Coordena\u00e7\u00e3o de Aperfei\u00e7oamento de Pessoal de N\u00edvel Superior"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G5442013000","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"2023/00488-5","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320320997","funder_display_name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G6521060982","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"313245/2021-5","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320322025","funder_display_name":"Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00edfico e Tecnol\u00f3gico"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320320997","display_name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo","ror":"https://ror.org/02ddkpn78"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321091","display_name":"Coordena\u00e7\u00e3o de Aperfei\u00e7oamento de Pessoal de N\u00edvel Superior","ror":"https://ror.org/00x0ma614"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320322025","display_name":"Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00edfico e Tecnol\u00f3gico","ror":"https://ror.org/03swz6y49"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320337368","display_name":"Division of Graduate Education","ror":"https://ror.org/00whkrf32"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4412039759.pdf"},"referenced_works_count":72,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W35818155","https://openalex.org/W171406816","https://openalex.org/W397180395","https://openalex.org/W806202468","https://openalex.org/W1729897261","https://openalex.org/W1814780677","https://openalex.org/W1826514372","https://openalex.org/W1913969462","https://openalex.org/W1928053952","https://openalex.org/W1968024235","https://openalex.org/W1969939902","https://openalex.org/W1987922655","https://openalex.org/W2000117884","https://openalex.org/W2008892765","https://openalex.org/W2009256433","https://openalex.org/W2015187825","https://openalex.org/W2028836139","https://openalex.org/W2033943395","https://openalex.org/W2039175972","https://openalex.org/W2099911908","https://openalex.org/W2110307645","https://openalex.org/W2216905672","https://openalex.org/W2747807412","https://openalex.org/W2794770536","https://openalex.org/W2806073060","https://openalex.org/W2883571047","https://openalex.org/W2894779371","https://openalex.org/W2910477368","https://openalex.org/W2935912519","https://openalex.org/W2946992696","https://openalex.org/W2949102124","https://openalex.org/W2956567875","https://openalex.org/W3026194472","https://openalex.org/W3035017090","https://openalex.org/W3051124794","https://openalex.org/W3086809066","https://openalex.org/W3087070939","https://openalex.org/W3093518850","https://openalex.org/W3094314931","https://openalex.org/W3101489142","https://openalex.org/W3141870677","https://openalex.org/W3157103332","https://openalex.org/W3176829358","https://openalex.org/W3178998952","https://openalex.org/W3179432987","https://openalex.org/W3189055324","https://openalex.org/W3191012031","https://openalex.org/W3198459148","https://openalex.org/W3216067238","https://openalex.org/W4210729440","https://openalex.org/W4226203778","https://openalex.org/W4255586363","https://openalex.org/W4281631248","https://openalex.org/W4285254607","https://openalex.org/W4288680361","https://openalex.org/W4291155773","https://openalex.org/W4291213652","https://openalex.org/W4292176579","https://openalex.org/W4308627320","https://openalex.org/W4312858114","https://openalex.org/W4318408433","https://openalex.org/W4362603771","https://openalex.org/W4380682762","https://openalex.org/W4381277555","https://openalex.org/W4389265760","https://openalex.org/W4389544182","https://openalex.org/W4391533706","https://openalex.org/W4392414344","https://openalex.org/W4399723222","https://openalex.org/W4401084617","https://openalex.org/W4403887394","https://openalex.org/W4407231169"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2748952813","https://openalex.org/W2391645169","https://openalex.org/W2375453827","https://openalex.org/W2366365402","https://openalex.org/W2760158997","https://openalex.org/W3128908425","https://openalex.org/W2144661394","https://openalex.org/W164118282","https://openalex.org/W2047245866","https://openalex.org/W2370093201"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Abstract":[0],"Context":[1],"Maintaining":[2],"software":[3],"projects":[4],"over":[5,177],"the":[6,11,18,42,46,51,81,143,186,201],"long":[7],"term":[8],"requires":[9],"controlling":[10],"accumulation":[12],"of":[13,53,85,145,188],"technical":[14,24],"debt":[15,25],"(TD).":[16],"However,":[17],"time":[19],"and":[20,83,107,121,155,167,180,205],"cost":[21],"associated":[22],"with":[23],"management":[26],"(TDM)":[27],"are":[28,131,198],"often":[29],"high,":[30],"hindering":[31],"practitioners":[32,106,206],"from":[33,111,139],"performing":[34],"TDM":[35,40,192],"tasks.":[36],"Using":[37],"tools":[38,55,130,197,204],"for":[39,61,77,191,209],"has":[41],"potential":[43,91],"to":[44,70,164,174],"reduce":[45],"effort":[47],"involved.":[48],"Despite":[49],"this,":[50],"adoption":[52],"such":[54],"remains":[56],"low,":[57],"indicating":[58],"a":[59,210],"need":[60],"more":[62,211],"efficient":[63,212],"tool":[64,75,178],"support.":[65],"Objective":[66],"This":[67],"study":[68,183],"aims":[69],"understand":[71],"practitioners\u2019":[72,140],"perspectives":[73],"on":[74],"support":[76],"TDM,":[78],"specifically":[79],"regarding":[80,128],"selection":[82],"use":[84],"these":[86],"tools.":[87,102],"Additionally,":[88,150],"we":[89,151],"identified":[90,138],"requirements":[92,154],"that":[93],"could":[94],"be":[95,165],"implemented":[96],"into":[97,158],"existing":[98],"or":[99],"new":[100],"TD":[101],"Method":[103],"We":[104],"surveyed":[105],"received":[108],"103":[109],"answers,":[110],"which":[112],"89":[113],"valid":[114],"answers":[115],"were":[116],"analyzed":[117],"using":[118],"thematic":[119],"synthesis":[120],"descriptive":[122],"statistics.":[123],"Results":[124],"Practitioners\u2019":[125],"decision-making":[126],"processes":[127],"adopting":[129],"primarily":[132],"driven":[133],"by":[134,148],"ten":[135],"main":[136,160],"concerns":[137],"responses":[141],"(e.g.,":[142],"load":[144],"information":[146],"provided":[147],"tools).":[149],"elicited":[152],"46":[153],"classified":[156],"them":[157],"two":[159],"categories":[161],"(":[162],"\u201cInformation":[163],"provided\u201d":[166],"\u201cTool":[168],"Usage\u201d":[169],").":[170],"Conclusion":[171],"Practitioners":[172],"aim":[173],"maintain":[175],"control":[176],"execution":[179],"outputs.":[181],"Our":[182],"then":[184],"highlights":[185],"necessity":[187],"human-centered":[189],"approaches":[190],"automation,":[193],"i.e.,":[194],"not":[195],"only":[196],"essential,":[199],"but":[200],"interaction":[202],"between":[203],"is":[207],"critical":[208],"TDM.":[213]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":4},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2026-08-03T07:22:36.454288","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}