YoYoGames Wiki:Citing sources

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When editing a general information article (i.e. not Game Maker functions) it will often be necessary to cite your sources (where the information on the article has come from). This makes it clear to the reader that the information they are reading is accurate and reliable, and gives them the opportunity to read the full source themselves. Sources should not only be added to your own edits and work on the Wiki, but wherever they are needed.

Citing sources is a straightforward process and is detailed below.

Where to cite sources

Sources should be cited in the following situations:

• Where a statement needs verification, usually because it could be challenged by someone. This is especially true if a statement is a serious claim.

Example: In 2008, Fortune magazine found 'Apple' to be the most admired company in America.^[1]

• Where a quote is being used. A source ensures the person or organisation quoted is not being unfairly or wrongly represented.

Example: "...the plan is to include a completely new set of sprites and backgrounds with Game Maker 8.0". - Mark Overmars ^[2]

Notice that sources are always put behind any punctuation such as , or . in order to keep things consistent (plus it just looks better that way).

How to cite sources

Sources can come from many different places (books, websites/webpages, journals etc.), but for any source you need to put the relevant information between <ref> and </ref>. Below is an example of a web source from the article Boss:

<ref>[http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/2006/05/70832
Who's the Boss] Wired, 2009. Retrieved on June 9 2009.</ref>

When viewed normally it produces this reference.^[3] Clicking on it (the [3]) will take you to the bottom of the article, under the heading 'References'.

You may notice a few things about this particular reference, as it is one of the most detailed that can be made. For a simpler version that can still take the reader to the webpage in question, we could use the url of the webpage:

<ref>http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/2006/05/70832</ref>

This still cites the source and is practical for inexperienced users. Citing web sources in this way is perfectly acceptable in many situations. This will produce, unlike the more complicated example, the full url (e.g. http://...) and clicking on that will direct the user to the cited source.

But unless we do something crucial, neither of the references we have studied will be displayed at the bottom of the page. To do this we must place:

<references />

We place this at the bottom of the page under a heading, appropriately titled, 'References'. Now, when a reader clicks on a reference, they will be taken to the bottom of the page and to the appropriate reference number.

Note: Although references appear at the end of the article under 'References' you cannot edit them by going there. You must find the reference within the article and edit it there instead.

Now returning to the more complicated reference that was shown earlier. By going down to the third reference you will notice that the url (e.g. http://...) is not displayed, despite it being included in between the tags <ref> and </ref>. This because of the square brackets (boldened below):

<ref>[http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/2006/05/70832 Who's the Boss] Wired, 2009. Retrieved on June 9 2009.</ref>

By encasing the url in [ ], leaving a space and then typing something (in the above case: Who's the Boss), you can create a hyperlink. For web sources, the 'something' that you type in should be the name/title of the webpage or article that you are citing. This applies to other sources (e.g. a book) if they exist in an electronic format, for example posted as a .pdf file. See Book sources for more information.

You will also notice that this reference has some information that is not a hyperlink (Wired, 2009. Retrieved on June...). This is because you can include extra information outside of the square brackets. In this case it shows the publisher, date that the source was published and the date that it was retrieved and cited on the Wiki. See Web sources for more information.

Types of sources

Sources come in many different mediums. Arguably the most used is a web source, followed by a book source. Though they both adhere to the format detailed above, they do each have specific details.

Web sources

When citing web sources such as webpages, you should try to include the following:

• The url of the source. This should be encased in [ ] so that the rest of the information can be included.
• The title of the article or webpage. This is to be included after a space between the url. It will appear as a hyperlink. If no name is given use the title of the website or host.
• The publisher. This is usually, though not always (so be sure to check), the name of the website or host.
• The date the source was published. Include as much detail as possible and in the form: MM DD YY (June 9 2009).
• The date that the source was first included in the article.

Book sources

When citing book sources, you should try to include the following:

• If an electronic format of the source exists (.pdf) and it is posted online then its url should be included.
• The full name of the author and co-authors in the form: Last name, first name (Smith, John).
• The title of the book. If the book exists in an electronic format, follow the same rules as titles for web sources.
• The publisher of the book.
• The date the book was published. Include as much detail as possible and in the form: MM DD YY (June 9 2009).
• The number of pages contained in the book.
• The ISBN of the book.

Multi-use sources

This is for sources used several times. When the source is substantial or there are uncomfortably many citations, it may be better to use a Bibliography.

Sometimes you may want to use an extensive source (particularly book sources) to verify a number of sentences/statements within an article. 'Multi-use sources' are very easy to create.

Find the first occurence of your multi-use source (example below):

<ref>[http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0802/
gallery.mostadmired_top20.fortune/index.html Fortune's Top 20 Admired Companies]</ref>

After <ref, leaving a space, add: name="" (example below):

<ref name="fortune">[http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0802/
gallery.mostadmired_top20.fortune/index.html Fortune's Top 20 Admired Companies]</ref>

In between the "" add an appropriate name, preferably keeping it short (you won't want to be typing in a long title repeatedly). Now, when needing to use that source again, simply type in your reference's name in the following format:

<ref name="" />

With each new use of the same source, a new direct is created at the original source (under References) and the number of the reference is duplicated. Here is an example.^[4][4][4]

References

1. ↑ Fortune's Top 20 Admired Companies
2. ↑ Creating Sprites for Us
3. ↑ Who's the Boss Wired, 2009. Retrieved on June 9 2009.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Citing sources example #4