Fw: [R] R Citation

[John Dougherty]

On Friday 21 January 2005 14:48, Steve McIntyre wrote:
> Dear Achim, Thanks for the comment. Here is the publisher's style guideline
> (AGU)
> "Because the Internet is dynamic environment and sites may change or move,
> treat World Wide Web, ftp files, and electronically archived data stored at
> data centers other than World or National Data Centers as unpublished,
> i.e., in text only." http://www.agu.org/pubs/AuthorRefSheet.pdf
>
> So by this policy, R and its packages cannot be included in the list of
> references and has the same citation as a pers.comm. The problem for my
> paper can be resolved by removing the citation from references to text, but
> this seems unfair to R and the package authors for AGU publications. AGU
> does recognize some permanent data archives listed here
> http://www.agu.org/pubs/datacent.html - maybe it would make sense to have a
> mirror at one of these permanent archives for packages and versions.
>
> Regards, Steve McIntyre
>

Steve,

Depending upon the actual format of your paper, you might either add a  
reference to R in your "Methods" or in an acknowledgements section if the 
format permits such.  Looking at the AGU publishing guide, their obvious 
concern is to insure that the data used in an article are sourced properly.

Statistical software, like ground-penetrating radar or a magnetometer for 
instance, is a tool.  Thus it really falls within the scope of methods.  It 
is reasonable in that case to cite the URL in the text.  You can also 
elaborate somewhat and explain sonething of the history and origins of R,  
citing the The R Reference Manual by the R Development Core Team, which is 
available through Amazon Books (volume 1 for mere $57.56 plus shipping at 
present).  You ought to be able with a bit of creativity to drag in mention 
of both the URL and the manuals.

Good luck,

John