Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 08:11:23 -0600 (CST) From: Ed Lamoureux <ell@hilltop.bradley.edu> Subject: [Air-l] advice please:online citations
One of the authors we're publishing is writing about a film. He used a large number of quotations and citations from web sites dedicated to film reviews . . . his citations don't follow APA exactly . . . instead of noting the most current location of the materials, he notes the url as of the date he retrieved the piece, and that date. The format is close enough that I can let the technical/stylistic issue slide. However, some of the materials are no longer available at the specified locations. I've asked him to go back and find alternatives; and told him that I will require a note that offers hard copy for interested readers who contact him. But let's assume for a moment that by the time I get the thing in print, 25% of his cited stuff isn't available. Should I publish the piece at all? Do we need to set specific editorial policy about web-based documentation?
Two issues: Is this the prescribed approach, and is it worth publishing if it's dated? The current APA publication manual does dictate that one indicate the date that information was retrieved (in addition to the date that it appears to have been written if that is available). This is presumably because things do indeed tend to move or disappear on the Internet, and an author cannot reasonably be held accountable for such shifts (although a last-minute, pre-publication search for the most recent location is probably a good idea if someone can make the effort). If the references will be very obsolete by publication or soon after, then another question may be appropriate: Do the references lead to sources that readers may want to study themselves, or do the references indicate how the author went about finding data? References should help readers reconstruct the precedents that led to the conclusions an author offered. I can see some cases where it may not have been the content, but the way the author searched (even if the specific targets of the search are gone), which would provide value to readers. --Joe W. ================================================= Joseph B. Walther, Associate Professor 518.276.2557 http://www.rpi.edu/~walthj/ walthj@rpi.edu Editor, The Journal of Online Behavior http://www.behavior.net/JOB/ ==================================================