Comparison of open-source software for producing directed acyclic graphs

2024/01/01 by Amy J. Pitts, Charlotte R. Fowler · 1 voice · 1 citation
Computer Science · #Data Visualization and Analytics #Software Engineering Research

paper · pdf · doi:10.1515/jci-2023-0031

openalex publication_date 2024/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24

Abstract

Abstract Many software packages have been developed to assist researchers in drawing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), each with unique functionality and usability. We examine five of the most common software to generate DAGs: Ti k Z, DAGitty, ggdag, dagR, and igraph. For each package, we provide a general description of its background, analysis and visualization capabilities, and user-friendliness. In addition, in order to compare packages, we produce two DAGs in each software, the first featuring a simple confounding structure and the second with a more complex structure with three confounders and a mediator. We provide recommendations for when to use each software depending on the user’s needs.

Citations

• Potential Outcome and Directed Acyclic Graph Approaches to Causality: Relevance for Empirical Practice in Economics
• Use of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to identify confounders in applied health research: review and recommendations
• Causal Diagrams for Epidemiologic Research
• Control variable selection in applied quantitative sociology: a critical review

Cited by

• Simulating Complex Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data Using the simDAG R Package

Discussions

• Potentially useful paper: doi.org/10.1515/jci-... [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]

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