{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7125221060","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/software5010004","title":"Mitigating Prompt Dependency in Large Language Models: A Retrieval-Augmented Framework for Intelligent Code Assistance","display_name":"Mitigating Prompt Dependency in Large Language Models: A Retrieval-Augmented Framework for Intelligent Code Assistance","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-01-21","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7125221060","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/software5010004"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.3390/software5010004","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/software5010004","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2674-113X/5/1/4/pdf?version=1768988291","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210183365","display_name":"Software","issn_l":"2674-113X","issn":["2674-113X"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Software","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref","doaj"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"diamond","oa_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2674-113X/5/1/4/pdf?version=1768988291","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5123502433","display_name":"Saja Abufarha","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168635309","display_name":"University of Calgary","ror":"https://ror.org/03yjb2x39","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168635309"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Saja Abufarha","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168635309"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5123453621","display_name":"Ahmed Al Marouf","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168635309","display_name":"University of Calgary","ror":"https://ror.org/03yjb2x39","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168635309"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Ahmed Al Marouf","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168635309"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5123521385","display_name":"Jon George Rokne","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168635309","display_name":"University of Calgary","ror":"https://ror.org/03yjb2x39","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168635309"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jon George Rokne","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168635309"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5123518696","display_name":"Reda Alhajj","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I168635309","display_name":"University of Calgary","ror":"https://ror.org/03yjb2x39","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I168635309"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I177969490","display_name":"University of Southern Denmark","ror":"https://ror.org/03yrrjy16","country_code":"DK","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I177969490"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I3125470973","display_name":"Istanbul Medipol University","ror":"https://ror.org/037jwzz50","country_code":"TR","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I3125470973"]}],"countries":["CA","DK","TR"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Reda Alhajj","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Engineering, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul 34810, Turkey","Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada","Department of Health Informatics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Engineering, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul 34810, Turkey","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I3125470973"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168635309"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Health Informatics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I177969490"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":3,"institutions_distinct_count":4,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5123453621","https://openalex.org/A5123518696"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I168635309","https://openalex.org/I177969490","https://openalex.org/I3125470973"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":99.4105,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":1,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.99634679,"is_in_top_1_percent":true,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":96,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":"5","issue":"1","first_page":"4","last_page":"4"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.1704999953508377,"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":0.1704999953508377,"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/T11636","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education","score":0.1589999943971634,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2718","display_name":"Health Informatics"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/27","display_name":"Medicine"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/4","display_name":"Health Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10430","display_name":"Software Engineering Techniques and Practices","score":0.07609999924898148,"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"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code-refactoring","display_name":"Code refactoring","score":0.8113999962806702},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/correctness","display_name":"Correctness","score":0.6998999714851379},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/usability","display_name":"Usability","score":0.534600019454956},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code","display_name":"Code (set theory)","score":0.46950000524520874},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/dependency","display_name":"Dependency (UML)","score":0.46389999985694885},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/process","display_name":"Process (computing)","score":0.4569000005722046},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/quality","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","score":0.44909998774528503},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/boosting","display_name":"Boosting (machine learning)","score":0.41600000858306885}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C152752567","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q116877","display_name":"Code refactoring","level":3,"score":0.8113999962806702},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7455000281333923},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C55439883","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q360812","display_name":"Correctness","level":2,"score":0.6998999714851379},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115903868","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80993","display_name":"Software engineering","level":1,"score":0.6218000054359436},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C170130773","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q216378","display_name":"Usability","level":2,"score":0.534600019454956},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776760102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5139990","display_name":"Code (set theory)","level":3,"score":0.46950000524520874},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C19768560","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q320727","display_name":"Dependency (UML)","level":2,"score":0.46389999985694885},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C98045186","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205663","display_name":"Process (computing)","level":2,"score":0.4569000005722046},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779530757","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1207505","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.44909998774528503},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C46686674","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466303","display_name":"Boosting (machine learning)","level":2,"score":0.41600000858306885},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C150292731","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1342704","display_name":"Code review","level":5,"score":0.387800008058548},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C133162039","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1061077","display_name":"Code generation","level":3,"score":0.3831000030040741},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.37880000472068787},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C133237599","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2295111","display_name":"Code smell","level":5,"score":0.3488999903202057},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C117447612","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1412670","display_name":"Software quality","level":4,"score":0.34369999170303345},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C43126263","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q128751","display_name":"Source code","level":2,"score":0.33899998664855957},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.3059000074863434},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C529173508","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q638608","display_name":"Software development","level":3,"score":0.30570000410079956},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C169590947","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47506","display_name":"Compiler","level":2,"score":0.30399999022483826},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C180152950","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2904257","display_name":"Software development process","level":4,"score":0.29490000009536743},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C112930515","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4389547","display_name":"Risk analysis (engineering)","level":1,"score":0.28769999742507935},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199360897","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9143","display_name":"Programming language","level":1,"score":0.2833999991416931},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C195094911","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14167904","display_name":"Process management","level":1,"score":0.2770000100135803},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204983608","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2111958","display_name":"Productivity","level":2,"score":0.272599995136261},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.2540999948978424}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.3390/software5010004","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/software5010004","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2674-113X/5/1/4/pdf?version=1768988291","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210183365","display_name":"Software","issn_l":"2674-113X","issn":["2674-113X"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Software","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:doaj.org/article:cb22bc81db3d4eedb6af0e07dde281f2","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doaj.org/article/cb22bc81db3d4eedb6af0e07dde281f2","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S112646816","display_name":"SHILAP Revista de lepidopterolog\u00eda","issn_l":"0300-5267","issn":["0300-5267","2340-4078"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Software, Vol 5, Iss 1, p 4 (2026)","raw_type":"article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.3390/software5010004","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/software5010004","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2674-113X/5/1/4/pdf?version=1768988291","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210183365","display_name":"Software","issn_l":"2674-113X","issn":["2674-113X"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Software","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/8","display_name":"Decent work and economic growth","score":0.4065386652946472}],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":true,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7125221060.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7125221060.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":30,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W1982063824","https://openalex.org/W2060795628","https://openalex.org/W2169818249","https://openalex.org/W2759861411","https://openalex.org/W2916904544","https://openalex.org/W3021091026","https://openalex.org/W4206251287","https://openalex.org/W4243023213","https://openalex.org/W4244923041","https://openalex.org/W4308627320","https://openalex.org/W4383737134","https://openalex.org/W4386724197","https://openalex.org/W4389544169","https://openalex.org/W4390638022","https://openalex.org/W4391833165","https://openalex.org/W4392199180","https://openalex.org/W4392384312","https://openalex.org/W4396833177","https://openalex.org/W4399213673","https://openalex.org/W4401042136","https://openalex.org/W4401043137","https://openalex.org/W4402670540","https://openalex.org/W4403230122","https://openalex.org/W4403309919","https://openalex.org/W4408147114","https://openalex.org/W4409361373","https://openalex.org/W4411113095","https://openalex.org/W4411297567","https://openalex.org/W4411491073","https://openalex.org/W4415124086"],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Background:":[0],"The":[1,43,109,132],"implementation":[2],"of":[3,32,101,119,128,140,149,162,182,196],"Large":[4],"Language":[5],"Models":[6],"(LLMs)":[7],"in":[8,53,59,151],"software":[9],"engineering":[10],"has":[11],"provided":[12],"new":[13,27,190],"and":[14,21,55,97,121,124,142,170,188],"improved":[15],"approaches":[16],"to":[17,37,73,112,160,178],"code":[18,81],"synthesis,":[19],"testing,":[20],"refactoring.":[22],"However,":[23],"even":[24],"with":[25,84],"these":[26,47,75],"approaches,":[28],"the":[29,65,94,99,116,152,163,179,194],"practical":[30],"efficacy":[31],"LLMs":[33,102],"is":[34,45],"restricted":[35],"due":[36],"their":[38],"reliance":[39],"on":[40,88,115],"user-given":[41],"prompts.":[42],"problem":[44],"that":[46,92],"prompts":[48,120],"can":[49,157],"vary":[50],"a":[51,85,135],"lot":[52],"quality":[54],"specificity,":[56],"which":[57,166],"results":[58,63,156],"inconsistent":[60],"or":[61],"suboptimal":[62],"for":[64,126,192],"LLM":[66],"application.":[67],"Methods:":[68],"This":[69,175],"research":[70,176],"therefore":[71],"aims":[72,111],"alleviate":[74],"issues":[76],"by":[77],"developing":[78],"an":[79,143],"LLM-based":[80],"assistance":[82],"prototype":[83],"framework":[86],"based":[87],"Retrieval-Augmented":[89],"Generation":[90],"(RAG)":[91],"automates":[93],"prompt-generation":[95],"process":[96],"improves":[98],"outputs":[100],"using":[103],"contextually":[104],"relevant":[105],"external":[106],"knowledge.":[107],"Results:":[108],"tool":[110,133],"reduce":[113],"dependence":[114],"manual":[117],"preparation":[118],"enhance":[122],"accessibility":[123],"usability":[125],"developers":[127],"all":[129],"experience":[130],"levels.":[131],"achieved":[134],"Code":[136,145],"Correctness":[137,146],"Score":[138],"(CCS)":[139],"162.0":[141],"Average":[144],"(ACC)":[147],"score":[148],"98.8%":[150],"refactoring":[153],"task.":[154],"These":[155],"be":[158],"compared":[159],"those":[161],"generated":[164],"tests,":[165],"scored":[167],"CCS":[168],"139.0":[169],"ACC":[171],"85.3%,":[172],"respectively.":[173],"Conclusions:":[174],"contributes":[177],"growing":[180],"list":[181],"Artificial":[183],"Intelligence":[184],"(AI)-powered":[185],"development":[186],"tools":[187],"offers":[189],"opportunities":[191],"boosting":[193],"productivity":[195],"developers.":[197]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2026-03-30T08:08:38.191290","created_date":"2026-01-22T00:00:00"}
