Re: [pygame] Citing PyGame in papers

[Ryan Hope <rmh3093@xxxxxxxxx>]

I create my experiments in PyGame so I figured I would cite it just
like the people who create their experiments in software like E-Prime.

On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 8:30 AM, Joe Ranalli <jranalli@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think one thing to pay attention to also is the purpose for citing it.
> Because that really guides the information that appears in the citation.
>
> If you're writing about some software you've created USING pygame, then the
> purpose of that citation is to identify what pygame is for people who
> haven't heard of it. In that case, the main purpose of the paper is your
> software, not pygame, and the most important part of the citation is
> communicating with readers how to find out about pygame. While you'll list
> the year and author and everything, ultimately all people need to know to
> follow your work is the pygame website.
>
> If instead you're writing about technical details of pygame, then it would
> be much more important to format the citation in a more elaborate way,
> including things like version number, maybe platform, etc. Since PyGame
> isn't really research software, those facts are probably more important than
> the exact way you choose to credit the authorship. That is, the reason
> you're crediting the authors in this case is more to acknowledge the hard
> work of the people who created and contribute to PyGame, and where they can
> get it, rather than directing readers to somebody who conducts technical
> research on this particular software.
>
> There are indeed groups out there who are extremely picky about exactly how
> every single citation is listed and will throw a fit if you exchange a comma
> with a period. In my experience with technical writing in the sciences
> though, it's largely not addressed in such a specific manner. You said that
> you don't have an explicit citation format for open source software. I don't
> think it's unreasonable for you to use good judgment in trying to create a
> citation that approximates the closest specified citation format (maybe
> general software), but provides enough information to allow readers to
> figure out what you've done. If that means listing the version when not
> explicitly called for, or omitting something not relevant from the style,
> you're well justified in doing so. If anybody bitches about it, explain
> your reasoning, and ask them to explain what they'd like to see
> added/removed.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 6:08 AM, Renà Dudfield <renesd@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> Maybe "PyGame Development team" would be best.
>>
>> From this thread there are some examples of how some projects are cited:
>> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1230811
>>
>> """R Development Core Team (2005). R: A language and environment for
>> statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing,
>> Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, URL http://www.R-project.org. """
>>
>> """ GRASS Development Team (<year>). Geographic Resources Analysis Support
>> System (GRASS), GNU General Public License. http://grass.osgeo.org """
>>
>> It's very interesting that there is no standard way to cite FOSS
>> projects. Or maybe that thread shows the standard way?
>>
>> Maybe the original author is Mark Baker, the original author of pysdl that
>> pygame is derived from? How are derivative works handled?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 11:44 AM, Florian Krause
>> <siebenhundertzehn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>> I personally would always cite with the original author(s), because
>>> (at least for APA style) there is no clear rule when it comes to
>>> citing Open Source software.
>>> PyGame would then look something like this:
>>>
>>> Pete Shinners (2011). PyGame - Python Game Development. Retrieved from
>>> http://www.pygame.org
>>>
>>> Hope this helps,
>>> Florian
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 12:09 AM, Ryan Hope <rmh3093@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> > I realize its an open source project. However, I can't cite 40+
>>> > authors nor is there any sort of unifying group which I could cite.
>>> >
>>> > On Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 10:30 AM, Renà Dudfield <renesd@xxxxxxxxx>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >> Hi,
>>> >>
>>> >> I don't know of a preferred way, or what is usual for open source
>>> >> projects...
>>> >>
>>> >> That entry looks like it could be fine I guess?
>>> >>
>>> >> Does the year have to be the start year, or just the current year? It
>>> >> is
>>> >> published continuously from the year 2000 until now.
>>> >>
>>> >> Also, for Author I see pygame as a community open source project these
>>> >> days
>>> >> with many contributors. At least 30-40 people have made significant
>>> >> contributions to the source code, and many more to other parts of
>>> >> pygame
>>> >> (releasing projects, wiki edits, writing tutorials, etc).
>>> >>
>>> >> cheers,
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> On Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 3:30 PM, Ryan Hope <rmh3093@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Is there a preferred way to cite PyGame in a journal article? At the
>>> >>> moment I am using the following BibTex entry but I am not sure how
>>> >>> correct this is.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> @Misc{pygame,
>>> >>> author = {Pete Shinners},
>>> >>> title = Â{PyGame},
>>> >>> howpublished = {\url{http://pygame.org/}},
>>> >>> year = {2011}
>>> >>> }
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> --
>>> >>> Ryan Hope, M.S.
>>> >>> CogWorks Lab
>>> >>> Department of Cognitive Science
>>> >>> Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Ryan Hope, M.S.
>>> > CogWorks Lab
>>> > Department of Cognitive Science
>>> > Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> www.fladd.de - fladd.de: Homepage of Florian Krause
>>> blog.fladd.de - fladd's Blog: Blog of Florian Krause
>>> intermezzo.fladd.de - Intermezzo: Music by Florian Krause and Giacomo
>>> Novembre
>>
>
>



-- 
Ryan Hope, M.S.
CogWorks Lab
Department of Cognitive Science
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute