OpenVAPTHow to Cite OpenVAPT
Please cite us. If OpenVAPT, its Academy, its documentation, its checks or its reports helped your work in any way, in a research paper, thesis, dissertation, coursework, assignment, presentation, poster, academic project, teaching material, book, article, blog post or video, please cite OpenVAPT.
Recommended Citation (APA 7)
OpenVAPT. (2026). OpenVAPT: An open academic vulnerability assessment tool (Version 0.1.0-alpha.6) [Computer software]. https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt
- Version. Give the version you used:
openvapt versionprints it, andopenvapt citeprints this citation for that exact build. A build made from source that is not a release says "unreleased build"; add the commit instead. - Access Date. Styles that ask for one (Harvard, Vancouver, web pages) show today's date in your browser. Use the date you actually used OpenVAPT.
- DOI. OpenVAPT has no DOI yet. Cite the version and the web address; the version identifies the exact code.
This page follows Citing OpenVAPT (CITING.md), the canonical guide. If anything here differs, CITING.md governs.
Credit Is Required When You Copy
Section 5.4 of the OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3 requires Credit whenever you copy, quote, share, translate, adapt or present any OpenVAPT Material, in whole or in part, in any medium: code, documentation, Academy modules, quizzes, worksheets, check descriptions, report templates, website text, figures, diagrams and screenshots.
Credit names "OpenVAPT", gives openvapt.com or the GitHub address, gives the version where you know it, says "adapted from" or "translated from" where you changed the material, and never suggests endorsement. Any citation on this page does all of that.
Citation Is Requested When You Use It
We also ask you to cite OpenVAPT when you only ran the tool, used its findings, or used ideas, methods or knowledge you learned from it without copying its words, code or figures. This is a request, not a licence condition, and nothing limits fair dealing or any other right the law gives you.
Academic integrity rules at almost every university and journal require you to acknowledge the tools and sources you used, so citing OpenVAPT is usually expected of you anyway.
Copy a Citation
openvapt version shows.OpenVAPT. (2026). OpenVAPT: An open academic vulnerability assessment tool (Version 0.1.0-alpha.6) [Computer software]. https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt
In text: (OpenVAPT, 2026)
OpenVAPT, "OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool," version 0.1.0-alpha.6, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt
OpenVAPT (2026) OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool. Version 0.1.0-alpha.6 [Computer program]. Available at: https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
In text: (OpenVAPT, 2026)
OpenVAPT. OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool. Version 0.1.0-alpha.6, 2026. GitHub, github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt.
In text: (OpenVAPT)
OpenVAPT. 2026. OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool. Version 0.1.0-alpha.6. Computer software. https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt.
In text: (OpenVAPT 2026)
OpenVAPT. OpenVAPT: an open academic vulnerability assessment tool [Internet]. Version 0.1.0-alpha.6. 2026 [cited 2026 Oct 16]. Available from: https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt
@software{openvapt_2026,
author = {{OpenVAPT}},
title = {{OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool}},
year = {2026},
version = {0.1.0-alpha.6},
url = {https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt},
note = {Built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers. https://openvapt.com},
license = {LicenseRef-OpenVAPT-SAL-1.3}
}
The double braces keep OpenVAPT as one group author.
@misc{openvapt_2026,
author = {{OpenVAPT}},
title = {{OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt}},
note = {Computer software, version 0.1.0-alpha.6. Accessed 16 October 2026}
}
Use this if your style does not know @software.
@software{openvapt_2026,
author = {{OpenVAPT}},
title = {OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool},
date = {2026},
version = {0.1.0-alpha.6},
url = {https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
organization = {OpenVAPT},
addendum = {Built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers}
}
TY - COMP AU - OpenVAPT TI - OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool PY - 2026 ET - 0.1.0-alpha.6 UR - https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt N1 - Built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers. https://openvapt.com ER -
[
{
"URL": "https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt",
"author": [
{
"literal": "OpenVAPT"
}
],
"id": "openvapt_2026",
"issued": {
"date-parts": [
[
2026
]
]
},
"note": "Built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers",
"title": "OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool",
"type": "software",
"version": "0.1.0-alpha.6"
}
]
OpenVAPT (2026). OpenVAPT: An Open Academic Vulnerability Assessment Tool, version 0.1.0-alpha.6. Built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers. https://openvapt.com
This work used OpenVAPT (version 0.1.0-alpha.6, https://openvapt.com), an academic vulnerability assessment tool built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers.
Source: OpenVAPT 0.1.0-alpha.6, openvapt.com
Add the full reference to your reference list or handout.
Adapted from OpenVAPT (openvapt.com), version 0.1.0-alpha.6, under the OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3.
This uses OpenVAPT, an academic vulnerability assessment tool from openvapt.com.
// Contains code adapted from OpenVAPT (https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt), version 0.1.0-alpha.6, // Copyright (c) 2026 OpenVAPT and contributors, used under the OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3 // (LicenseRef-OpenVAPT-SAL-1.3). Modified.
Use the comment syntax of your language (# for shell and Python). Remove the word "Modified." only if you changed nothing. Keep every Required Notice: line.
Adapted from the OpenVAPT Academy (openvapt.com), built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers, used under the OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3.
Exact wording required by TEACHING.md section 2.
The author is the project, "OpenVAPT", a group author: do not add personal names, and do not let a reference manager split it into a first and last name (BibTeX wraps it in double braces for this reason). If your style asks how the work was made, you may add "Built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers". Dates of access show today's date in your browser.
Download Citation Files
Import OpenVAPT straight into Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, JabRef or Pandoc. GitHub also reads CITATION.cff and shows a "Cite this repository" button with APA and BibTeX.
When to Cite
Pick the row that matches your work. "Credit required" means the licence requires it; "citation requested" means we ask for it.
| Your Work | Example Use | What to Use | Where It Goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Paper | You ran OpenVAPT and report its findings | APA 7, IEEE or the journal's style (citation requested) | Reference list, and the version in your method section |
| Thesis | You quote a check description or adapt a figure | Your university's style, plus "adapted from" (credit required) | Reference list and figure caption; optional acknowledgements line |
| Dissertation | You build on OpenVAPT code for your own tool | Software reference with the commit, plus a code header (credit required) | Reference list and the top of every file with copied code |
| Coursework or Assignment | You scan your own lab machine and write it up | The style your course asks for (citation requested) | Reference list or bibliography |
| Presentation | You show an OpenVAPT screenshot or diagram | Slide caption line, plus the full reference (credit required) | Under the image, and on your references slide |
| Poster | You reproduce a chart or table | Caption line or "adapted from" line (credit required) | Caption, and the poster's reference box |
| Academic Project | You use OpenVAPT as a tool in a group project | Software reference with version (citation requested) | Project report and README |
| Teaching Material | You adapt Academy modules, quizzes or worksheets | Teaching Credit, exact wording (credit required; see Teaching With OpenVAPT) | Handout, slide deck or course page |
| Blog Post or Video | You explain a concept you learned from the Academy | Plain Text or Spoken line with a link (citation requested) | Post footer, video description, or aloud |
Running OpenVAPT privately on your own machine needs no credit; a citation is still welcome.
Cite a Specific Version and Commit
Use the year of the version you used and the version shown by openvapt version or on the release page. Pre-release versions (alpha, beta, rc) are fine to cite; give the full version string. For unreleased code, or to make your work exactly reproducible, add the commit: get it with git rev-parse HEAD, or from the footer of this website ("Built ... from commit"). This build is commit 574f7f3333c4.
OpenVAPT. (2026). OpenVAPT: An open academic vulnerability assessment tool (Version 0.1.0-alpha.6, commit 574f7f3333c4) [Computer software]. https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt/tree/574f7f3333c44b75a3c649e2d93a76d507f75adf
commit = {574f7f3333c44b75a3c649e2d93a76d507f75adf},
biblatex-software reads commit; for other styles put it in note.
Cite the Academy, a Module or a Check
The Academy and web pages can change, so give the date you accessed them. Every Academy module and every check page has a Cite This Page box at the bottom with its exact title, web address and version already filled in.
OpenVAPT. (2026). OpenVAPT Academy [Online course]. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://openvapt.com/academy/
OpenVAPT. (2026). <Module or page title>. OpenVAPT Academy. Retrieved <Month Day, Year>, from <web address of the page>
Replace the parts in angle brackets.
OpenVAPT, "<Module or page title>," OpenVAPT Academy, 2026. [Online]. Available: <web address of the page>. [Accessed: <Day Mon. Year>].
OpenVAPT (2026) <Module or page title>. OpenVAPT Academy. Available at: <web address of the page> (Accessed: <Day Month Year>).
check HOST-SSH-001 of OpenVAPT 0.1.0-alpha.6 (OpenVAPT, 2026)
Cite the software reference in your reference list and name the check ID in your text.
| You Used | Cite | Add |
|---|---|---|
| The software (tool, scanner, report signing) | The software reference | The exact version |
| A specific build or unreleased code | The software reference | The Git commit |
| The Academy as a whole | The Academy reference | The date you accessed it |
| One Academy module, worksheet or page | The page reference | The module title, web address and date accessed |
| One check (for example HOST-SSH-001) | The software reference | The check ID in your text |
| A report produced by OpenVAPT | The software reference | The version that produced the report, shown in the report |
| The documentation or website text | The page reference | The web address and date accessed |
Use Does Not Imply Endorsement
Citing OpenVAPT does not give you any permission the licence does not give, and it does not mean OpenVAPT endorses, approves or has reviewed your work. Do not describe your work as certified, audited or approved by OpenVAPT. OpenVAPT findings are not a professional assessment; describe them as results from an academic tool, used at your own risk.