From this week, Nature's website presents comparative reviews of scientific software.

Nature has recruited a group of reviewers to test a wide range of scientific software, including graph-making and statistics packages, mathematics software, systems for bibliography and reference management, and more. This week, Sharon Kardia of the University of Michigan inaugurates the series at www.nature.com, with reviews of 16 graph-making packages.

Kardia explains the criteria used to evaluate the packages, and outlines the strengths and weaknesses of each. She calls attention to unique features, and suggests who might benefit from using each package. A table of system functions shows which packages possess which capabilities, and gives performance ratings for each package, for each of these functions. Each review is hyperlinked to additional product details provided by the manufacturer.