LIMSWiki:Citation guidelines

Like on other wikis, citations are vital on LIMSwiki. People from all over the world visit the wiki to find information about laboratory informatics products, laboratory equipment, vendors, and more. As such, they deserve factual information — not marketing or advertising speak — that is backed up with online and offline sources. Secondary sources are almost always preferred, though there are times when primary sources are the only available option. For example, if a vendor's LIMS software reportedly has document management features, the only citation to give may be primary in nature, i.e. directly from the vendor's website. It is LIMSwiki's view that in this particular case, a primary source is at least better than no source at all.

So when should you cite sources? When in doubt, add a citation. By citing claims in LIMSwiki content, you enable users to verify the information given is supported by reliable sources, thus improving the credibility of LIMSwiki and the vendor, product, and encyclopedic information contained within. You also effectively aid users needing additional information on the subject, and you additionally avoid plagiarizing the source of your words or ideas by giving attribution.

For more on how to deal with uncited claims, see LIMSWiki:Citation needed.

Adding citations

Like Wikipedia, LIMSwiki has several ways for an editor to add citations to article content. However, all in-line citations (citations directly in the text of an article) require reference tags as such:

<ref> ''your citation code'' </ref>

Below are the currently available citation templates available. More may be added at a later date.

Template:Cite book

This template is used for creating references to books.

An example of the "Cite book" template

The following code...

• {{cite book |last=Bloggs |first=Fred |editor-first=John |editor-last=Doe |title=Big Compilation Book With Many Chapters and distinct chapter authors |publisher=Book Publishers |date=2001-01-01 |pages=100–110 |chapter=Chapter 2: The History Of The Bloggs Family |isbn=1234567890 }}

...yields:

• Bloggs, Fred (1 January 2001). "Chapter 2: The History Of The Bloggs Family". In Doe, John. Big Book With Many Chapters and distinct chapter authors. Book Publishers. pp. 100–110. ISBN 1234567890. 

If you have questions about how to use this citation template, please read the documentation at Template:Cite book.

Template:Cite journal

This template is used for formatting references to articles in magazines and academic journals, as well as academic papers.

An example of the "Cite journal" template

The following code...

• {{cite journal |first=W. Hugh |last=Woodin |title=The Continuum Hypothesis, Part I |journal=Notices of the AMS |volume=48 |issue=6 |year=2001 |pages=567–576 |location=Providence, RI |publisher=American Mathematical Society |url=http://www.ams.org/notices/200106/fea-woodin.pdf |format=PDF |doi=01.2345/ABC98765 }}

...yields:

• Woodin, W. Hugh (2001). "The Continuum Hypothesis, Part I" (PDF). Notices of the AMS (Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society) 48 (6): 567–576. doi:01.2345/ABC98765. http://www.ams.org/notices/200106/fea-woodin.pdf. 

If you have questions about how to use this citation template, please read the documentation at Template:Cite journal.

Template:Cite web

This template is used to cite online sources in LIMSwiki articles.

An example of the "Cite web" template with an HTML page as the source

The following code...

• {{cite web |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-25/singapore-civil-defense-narcotics-heads-replaced-amid-misconduct-charges.html |title=Singapore Civil Defense, Narcotics Heads Replaced Amid Misconduct Charges |publisher=Bloomburg L.P. |author=Tan, Andrea; Kyoungwha Kim |date=25 January 2012 |accessdate=15 February 2012 }}

...yields:

• Tan, Andrea; Kyoungwha Kim (25 January 2012). "Singapore Civil Defense, Narcotics Heads Replaced Amid Misconduct Charges". Bloomburg L.P. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-25/singapore-civil-defense-narcotics-heads-replaced-amid-misconduct-charges.html. Retrieved 15 February 2012. 

An example of the "Cite web" template with an web-hosted PDF as the source

The following code...

• {{cite web |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |publisher=International Narcotics Control Board |format=PDF |author=United Nations |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}

...yields:

• United Nations (30 April 2005). "List of psychotropic substances under international control" (PDF). International Narcotics Control Board. http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf. Retrieved 6 July 2005. 

If you have questions about how to use this citation template, please read the documentation at Template:Cite web.

Template:Cite web short

This template is used to cite online sources without an author and/or publisher in LIMSwiki articles.

An example of the "Cite web short" template

The following code...

• {{cite web short |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=6 July 2005}}

...yields:

If you have questions about how to use this citation template, please read the documentation at Template:Cite web short.

See also

Template:Refimprove
Template:Citation needed
Template:Cite book
Template:Cite journal
Template:Cite web
Template:Cite web short
Template:Cite news
Template:Cite video
Template:Cite press release
Template:Cite conference