LibreQDA is developed by the Plateforme en humanités numériques with financial and material support from the Université de Sherbrooke and the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (CIRST).

This free and open-source software enables users to carry out different steps in the analysis of interviews or text corpora:

  • Import a variety of text file formats (.pdf, .docx, .odt, .txt, and more)
  • Code words, passages, or paragraphs using manually defined codes
  • Retrieve and explore themes of interest
  • Export a selection of coded excerpts or the entire project
  • Collaborate with others throughout all stages of this process

The server version of LibreQDA (available at libreqda.org) runs on infrastructure provided by Calcul Québec and is maintained by highly qualified university personnel. Users simply connect via a web browser, and changes are saved in real time.

Several goals drive this project:

  • Encourage adoption of a free (as in gratis) and open-source tool that supports core tasks in computer-assisted qualitative analysis
  • Promote the use of such tools in ways that align with principles of sound research data management, particularly those prioritized by university research ethics boards
  • Offer an alternative to commercial and proprietary qualitative data analysis softwares, which often impose advanced features that may not align with the epistemological foundations of qualitative analysis

Version 1.0

LibreQDA is a fork of the Taguette software developed by Rémi Rampin et al. The following enhancements were developed in collaboration with qualitative research specialists:

  • Secure authentication via CILogon, which integrates with digital identity providers worldwide (server version only)
  • Uploading multiple files at once
  • Custom color selection for codes
  • Overlaid coding stripes
  • Code hierarchies
  • Drag-and-drop functionality for fast coding
  • Filtering and displaying excerpts matching specific criteria
  • Navigation to a selected excerpt
  • Integrated search engine

Consult our source code or open an issue on our GitLab repository.