The broad coverage of the search for the Higgs boson in the mainstream media is a relative novelty for high energy physics (HEP) research, whose achievements have traditionally been limited to scholarly literature. This paper illustrates the results
of a scientometric analysis of HEP computing in scientific literature, institutional media and the press, and a comparative overview of similar metrics concerning representative particle physics measurements. The picture emerging from these scientometric data documents the scientific impact and social perception of HEP computing. The results of this analysis suggest that improved communication of the scientific and social role of HEP computing would be beneficial to the high energy physics community.
A scientometric analysis of Monte Carlo simulation and Monte Carlo codes has been performed over a set of representative scholarly journals related to radiation physics. The results of this study are reported and discussed. They document and quantita
tively appraise the role of Monte Carlo methods and codes in scientific research and engineering applications.
