If it's web code, i'd use the standards for citing a web document. Anything else I'd treat as an unpublished doc and get what citation info I could from source code comments and/or context
Sent from my iPhone > On Nov 7, 2013, at 12:59 PM, "Fitchett, Deborah" > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Probably the main reason it rarely happens is that most people aren't in the > habit of thinking about it (yet). I do see this as slowly changing, however, > as is the case with citing datasets; the speed will vary by discipline. > > Theoretically anyone *can* cite anything already; but for the citations to be > most useful (eg for people to then be able to play programmatically with > reference lists) you need some agreed upon standards. Standards for citing > data are still in active development - you could get some ideas from eg > http://www.datacite.org/ I haven't heard anything about standards for citing > code though I haven't really been looking. > > A permanent url is pretty vital, and a DOI certainly adds a lot of cachet for > scientists who are new to all this: it makes it *look* Official even though > it doesn't actually guarantee permanence or credibility. You might be > interested in https://github.com/arfon/fidgit - it's a recent proof of > concept integration between a GitHub repo and Figshare to get a DOI for the > repo. > > Cheers, > > Deborah Fitchett > Digital Access Coordinator > Library, Teaching and Learning > Lincoln University, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki > New Zealand's specialist land-based university > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Heather Claxton-Douglas > Sent: Thursday, 7 November 2013 12:02 p.m. > To: [email protected] > Subject: [CODE4LIB] Citing source code in high-profile academic journals > > Hello, > > I need some advice about referencing source code in an academic journal. I > rarely see it happen and I don’t know why. > > Background: > I’m building a website that connects academic researchers with software > developers interested in helping scientists write code. My goal is for these > researchers to be able to reference any new source code in the articles they > publish -- much like a “gene accession number” or a “PDB code”. > > Unfortunately, I don’t see any code repositories referenced in high profile > journals like Science or PNAS. I’m guessing it’s because the code in the > repositories isn’t permanent and may be deleted anytime? Or perhaps a DOI > needs to be assigned? > > So my question to the group is: > What criteria is necessary for a code repository or database to be eligible > for referencing in scientific academic journals? > > Some ideas I have based on looking at the Protein Databank and Genbank are: > 1) The entry is permanent -- we can’t delete articles once they’ve been > published, same is true for entries in the PDB and Genbank > 2) The entry gives credit to all authors and contributors > 3) The entry has a DOI > 4) The entry has a simple accession number - PDB is a four character code, > Genebank number is six characters. > > Is there anything I’m missing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. > > Thank you > Heather Claxton-Douglas, PhD > www.sciencesolved.com > > http://igg.me/at/ScienceSolved > > ________________________________ > P Please consider the environment before you print this email. > "The contents of this e-mail (including any attachments) may be confidential > and/or subject to copyright. Any unauthorised use, distribution, or copying > of the contents is expressly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in > error, please advise the sender by return e-mail or telephone and then delete > this e-mail together with all attachments from your system."
