  Context: The use of standards is considered a vital part of any engineering
discipline. So one could expect that standards play an important role in
Requirements Engineering (RE) as well. However, little is known about the
actual knowledge and use of RE-related standards in industry. Objective: In
this article, we investigate to which extent standards and related artifacts
such as templates or guidelines are known and used by RE practitioners. Method:
To this end, we have conducted a questionnaire-based online survey. We could
analyze the replies from 90 RE practitioners using a combination of closed and
open-text questions. Results: Our results indicate that the knowledge and use
of standards and related artifacts in RE is less widespread than one might
expect from an engineering perspective. For example, about 47% of the
respondents working as requirements engineers or business analysts do not know
the core standard in RE, ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148. Participants in our study mostly
use standards by personal decision rather than being imposed by their
respective company, customer, or regulator. Beyond insufficient knowledge, we
also found cultural and organizational factors impeding the widespread adoption
of standards in RE. Conclusions: Overall, our results provide empirically
informed insights into the actual use of standards and related artifacts in RE
practice and - indirectly - about the value that the current standards create
for RE practitioners.
