Question

I am writing a paper and implemented an algorithm using OpenMP. Since Visual Studio directly supports OpenMP, am I required to cite OpenMP in my paper?

Answer 1

I would cite it if only for clarity about the version used, and to point the reader to more information. My suggestion would be to cite the API reference for the OpenMP specification of the appropriate version, using whatever style your journal uses for citing manuals or technical reports.

If you don’t know what version of OpenMP you are using, the following program:

#include <omp.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    printf("OpenMP version: %d\n", _OPENMP);
    return 0;
}

When run like:

$ g++ openmpversion.cpp -fopenmp
$ ./a.out

will report 200505 for 2.5, 200805 for 3.0, and 201307 for 4.0.