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Evaluations—encompassing computational evaluations, benchmarks and user studies—are essential tools for validating the performance and applicability of graph and network layout algorithms (also known as graph drawing). These evaluations not only offer significant insights into an algorithm's performance and capabilities, but also assist the reader in determining if the algorithm is suitable for a specific purpose, such as handling graphs with a high volume of nodes or dense graphs. Unfortunately, there is no standard approach for evaluating layout algorithms. Prior work holds a ‘Wild West’ of diverse benchmark datasets and data characteristics, as well as varied evaluation metrics and ways to report results. It is often difficult to compare layout algorithms without first implementing them and then running your own evaluation. In this systematic review, we delve into the myriad of methodologies employed to conduct evaluations—the utilized techniques, reported outcomes and the pros and cons of choosing one approach over another. Our examination extends beyond computational evaluations, encompassing user‐centric evaluations, thus presenting a comprehensive understanding of algorithm validation. This systematic review—and its accompanying website—guides readers through evaluation types, the types of results reported, and the available benchmark datasets and their data characteristics. Our objective is to provide a valuable resource for readers to understand and effectively apply various evaluation methods for graph layout algorithms. A free copy of this paper and all supplemental material is available at osf.io, and the categorized papers are accessible on our website at https://visdunneright.github.io/gd-comp-eval/ 

Survey companion websites allow users to explore collected survey information more deeply, as well as update or add entries for papers. These sites can help information stay relevant past the original release date of the survey paper. However, creating and maintaining a website can be laborious and difficult, especially when authors might not be experienced with programming. We introduce Indy Survey Tool to help authors develop companion websites for survey papers across diverse fields of study. The tool's core aim is to identify correlations between categorizations of papers. To accomplish this, the tool offers multiple combined filters and correlation matrix visualizations that enable users to explore the data from diverse perspectives. The tool's visualizations, list of papers, and filters are harmoniously integrated and highly responsive, providing users with feedback based on their selections. Identifying correlations in survey papers is a pivotal aspect of research, as it can enable the recognition of common combinations of categorizations within the papers—as well as highlight any omissions. The versatility of Indy Survey Tool enables researchers to delve into the correlations between categorizations in survey data, an essential aspect of research that can reveal gaps in the literature and highlight promising areas for future exploration. A preprint and supplemental material for the paper can be found at osf.io/tdhqn. 

We built a website to help graph drawing researchers find benchmark datasets to use for evaluating graph layout algorithms.