  Stack Overflow is widely recognized by software practitioners as the go-to
resource for addressing technical issues and sharing practical solutions. While
not typically seen as a scholarly forum, users on Stack Overflow commonly refer
to academic sources in their discussions. Yet, little is known about these
referenced academic works and how they intersect the needs and interests of the
Stack Overflow community. To bridge this gap, we conducted an exploratory
large-scale study on the landscape of academic references in Stack Overflow.
Our findings reveal that Stack Overflow communities with different domains of
interest engage with academic literature at varying frequencies and speeds. The
contradicting patterns suggest that some disciplines may have diverged in their
interests and development trajectories from the corresponding practitioner
community. Finally, we discuss the potential of Stack Overflow in gauging the
real-world relevance of academic research.
