User Support Policy

Q: How do I contribute an FAQ to this page?

A: This is done manually at the moment. Please send your FAQ with solution to the Documentation Working Group.

Q: If I need to discuss technical matters specific to my simulation application or ask for first-aid help, who can I contact?

A: Every institute and experiment participating in Geant4 has a G4 Technical Steering Board (TSB) representative who may be contacted for help with problems relating to simulations. Please contact the TSB representative closest to your project or to your laboratory. To find out who your TSB representative is go to G4 Technical Board. You may also post your question in the Geant4 Discourse Forum.

Q: If I find a bug or other problem with the code, who should be informed?

A: The Geant4 problem tracking system will forward the bug report to the person responsible for the affected Geant4 domain. The Geant4 web makes available a database of open incident reports, tagging the ones already fixed and showing their status. An acknowledgement of the bug report will be sent.

Q: If I propose a fix, who is responsible for approving it?

A: The responsible person is the working group coordinator of the domain in which the fix is to be applied. This person is usually also a TSB member. If the fix affects more than one domain, the matter will be addressed by the TSB.

Q: To whom should I send a proposal for an improvement in Geant4 functionality?

A: Any new requirement should be submitted via the automatic web system. It will be discussed at the Geant4 TSB. You may also ask your TSB representative to forward your requirement to the TSB. A new requirement will trigger a cycle of analysis, design, implementation, testing and documentation, which may involve different working groups. Any new software or enhancement which will become a part of Geant4 must be agreed upon by the TSB, which is charged with ensuring the consistency of the entire toolkit.

Q: Is there a regular user meeting which I should attend?

A: There is one Geant4 Collaboration Workshop per year, and one or two Geant4 Technical Forum meetings. These will be announced in the *Events* section of the Geant4 Web. However, many experiments and institutes in the Geant4 collaboration organize their own regular and/or special Geant4 user workshops.

Q: Where can I find solutions to particular problems as well as general user support?

A: Solutions and tips for solving practical problems can be found on the current FAQ page. General and specific user support information is available at the Getting Started and User Guide pages.

Q: What is the proper way to cite Geant4 in my journal or conference paper?

A: The three main reference papers for Geant4 are published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 506 (2003) 250-303, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 53 No. 1 (2006) 270-278, and Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 835 (2016) 186-225 <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168900216306957>.