>Teresa Binstock <binstoct at essex.UCHSC.edu> wrote:
>>I wish to cite something I posted to several newsgroups. I wish
>>specifically to know how to cite:
>>>> bionet.immunology
>>>>Please send replies to me directly. Thank you.
>>>>>>Teresa.Binstock at uchsc.edu>>>>> What ever replies you receive, please let the rest of us know if
>there is any current solution. It is a one-way process, we can cite the
>regular paper literature here, but not vice-versa. If enough of us TRY
>to cite newgroups in our papers, then perhaps paper journal editors will
>wake up and collectively decide on some general format. It would
>help if the people who set up this software we are using now, would place
>some handle for use in citation. I have suggested many times, that we
>should use the same format as in the paper literature, with volume, and
>page numbers being substituted with time parameters.
>> i.e. Smith, J. D. (1996) Bionet.immunology 916, 1801
>> where the 916 refers to September 16th, and 1801 is 1 min past six
>>> Sincerely,
>> Donald Forsdyke, Discussion Leader,
> Bionet.immunology
I don't know. This format gives the reference an air of authority which is
undeserved. Since anyone can post (just about) anything to a newsgroup,
mimicking the format of a peer-reviewed journal is somewhat pretentious.
I know, journals differ in the stringency of the peer-review process, but let's
not contribute to the problem by adopting this format. As far as I'm concerned,
postings from newsgroups, while they should be referenced in some manner, rank
no higher on the reliability scale than "personal communication" or "word-of-
mouth".
Brett Lindenbach
Program in Immunology
Washington University - St Louis
brett at borcim.wustl.edu
"I own my own pet virus. I get to pet and name her." - Cobain
