The broad coverage of the search for the Higgs boson in the mainstream media
is a relative novelty for high energy physics (HEP) research, whose
achievements have traditionally been limited to scholarly literature. This
paper illustrates the results of a scientometric analysis of HEP computing in
scientific literature, institutional media and the press, and a comparative
overview of similar metrics concerning representative particle physics
measurements. The picture emerging from these scientometric data documents the
scientific impact and social perception of HEP computing. The results of this
analysis suggest that improved communication of the scientific and social role
of HEP computing would be beneficial to the high energy physics community.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of CHEP 2013 (Computing in High
Energy Physics