• The principle of Access
• The principle Intellectual Property,
• The principle Economy (brevity) ,
• The principle Standardization
• The principle Transparency

1. Documentation of sources in the text
2. Distinguishing between "Literature" and "Web Pages" .
3. Citation of literature in print and of online journals
4. Citation of Web Pages
5. Listing of citations

1.Documentation of sources in the text

In-text references to the printed literature should be cited as (Surname, year), or Surname (year). Use a semicolon between multiple references (for example: Butler and MacArthur, 1994; Smith, 1998). If the item is available without restriction on the Web, put an asterisk before the citation (*Surname, year). Also use this form of citation, with an asterisk, for research papers published in peer reviewed electronic journals that are only available electronically.

In-text references to Web Pages other than those of journals posted on the Web should be cited as (*WEB PAGE TITLE or HEADING). They should NOT be presented as links within text; links are given with the full citations in the Cited Literature and Links section.

The use of hypertext links within the text is discouraged  because highlighting of links can obscure other points of emphasis such as italicized or bolded terms and phrases. Also, if a web document is being revised and links are updated (as they should be at regular intervals), then it is much simpler to edit only the links within the citation section than it is to edit all references to citations. The asterisk indicates that the reference is available on the Web, and that the link is given in the citations section. Page headings or page titles are used to identify Web documents rather than authors because so often on the Web the nature of authorship is not straight-forward; these heading or titles are given in upper case to clearly identify that the item is a Web page title or heading.

2. Distinguishing between "Literature" and "Web Pages"

1. documents that were prepared specifically for the print medium (even thought they may also be posted on the Web);
2. reports and articles prepared for academic journals (including all scientific journals), regardless of whether they are distributed primarily via the Web or via the print medium.

• Smith, R.D., S.R. Donald, and P. MacSeed. 1998. The viability of bean seeds in sandy loam soil at Upper Hayfield, Nova Scotia. Journal of Seed Viability Science 154: 55-66.

  Bold the title of the paper, italicize name of the journal; spell out full name of the journal.

• Steinkraus, D. C. and S. Y. Young. 1999. Bacillus thuringiensis for use Against Armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Wheat. Florida Entomologist 82: 209-218. Journal at http://www.fcla.edu/FlaEnt/  ARTICLE

  The following items enhance access for the viewer and should be provided if you accessed a journal via the Web

  1. Give the URL for the Home Page of the journal as shown and make it an active link.
  2. Add an active link for the particular article as ARTICLE. Do NOT show the URL for the article (these are often very long and complicated and viewers can find it via the journal home page, already given).
  3. If you know that the journal is available without restriction (i.e. to anyone with no special fees applied or requiring special registration and the journal clearly states that is the case), add "Access not restricted". If you are at all uncertain whether access is restricted, do not comment on access.
  Note that most of the journals accessed through the Dalhousie Library's electronic access system are restricted access and are available only if you access the system via on-campus computers or via special proxy-server arrangements. Also, many journals change which issues are freely accessible according to their marketing strategy, so that what's accessible at one time, may not be later.
  
  The Florida Entomologist states clearly that it is freely accessible on the Web. Unfortunately, that is not true of most scientific journals.
  
  

• Smith, R.D., S.R. Donald,  and P. MacSeed. 2001. The viability of corn seeds in sandy loam soil at Upper Hayfield, Nova Scotia . In: P. MacSeed (ed.), Seed Viability. Hayfield Press, Upper Hayfield, Nova Scotia, Canada, pp. 41-47.

• MacSeed, P. 1990. Collecting Seeds: A Manual. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

  Capitalize first letter of title words of books except for the, a, of. For chapters or journal articles, capitalize only first letter of first word unless it is a proper name; bold the article title, but not the book title. Italicize book titles. For major cities, the country is not required when you cite the place of the publisher, however, if the city is not well known, include state (for USA) and country; if in doubt, include country name

• VETCH IN HAYFIELD SEEDBANKS (http://www.hayfields.ca/seeddocs/vetch.html) P. MacSeed, Maint. (Mod. 2000, December 30; Viewed 8 Jan. 2001).

• FAO STATISTICAL DATABASES (http://apps.fao.org/) Food and Agriculture Organization, Spons. (Viewed 8 Jan. 2001).

• TRADITIONAL PRACTICES FOR PLANT DISEASE MANAGEMENT
  IN TRADITIONAL FARMING SYSTEMS (http://www.tropag-fieldtrip.cornell.edu/tradag/default.html) H.D. Thurston, Maint. (Viewed 8 Jan. 2001).

• VETCH IN HAYFIELD SEEDBANKS (http://www.hayfields.ca/seeddocs/vetch.html) P. MacSeed, Auth. (2000, December 25; Viewed 8 Jan. 2001)

There are five components to the link citations:

1. The first component is the Title of the Page as shown in the browser bar, or at the top of the page. Use whichever one is most descriptive. It is given in upper case, and is presented as a link to the page. Delete " The" or "A" where they occur as the first word unless deletion changes the meaning.
2. The second component is the URL written out, inside brackets. This is presented because the reader may want to see it without having to click on the link; also if a visitor is printing out the page, the link is then visible.
3. The third component identifies as possible the sponsor (Spons.), author (Auth.), maintainer (Maint. ), compiler (Comp.) of the site or page, whichever is most appropriate; or provide two or all of these items if it seems relevant and appropriate to do so.
4. The fourth component gives the date of creation, modification (Mod.) or revision (Rev.) if such a date is clearly identified on the page. Give the year followed by the month spelled out in full and then the day, e.g. (1999, September 7). It is included in parentheses with the next component.
5. The fifth component provides the date at which you last verified existence of the site or page in brackets; use this format: (Viewed 7 Sep. 1996). Abbreviate the month by first three letters.

Provide the items in a bulleted list sorted first alphabetically according to authors' surnames and site titles or headings, and second chronologically. for example as follows:

• FAO STATISTICAL DATABASES (http://apps.fao.org/). Food and Agriculture Organization, Spons. (Viewed 8 Jan. 2001).
• MacSeed, P. 1990. Collecting Seeds: A Manual. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
  
• Smith, R.D., S.R. Donald,  and P. MacSeed. 1998. The viability of bean seeds in sandy loam soil at Upper Hayfield, Nova Scotia . Journal of Seed Viability Science 154: 55-66.
• Smith, R.D., S.R. Donald, and P. MacSeed. 1999. Weed seedbanks in meadows at Upper Hayfield, Nova Scotia. *Journal of Seedbank Science 154: 55-66. http://www.seedbank.ns.ca
• VETCH IN HAYFIELD SEEDBANKS (http://www.hayfields.ca/seeddocs/vetch.html). P. MacSeed, Maint. (Mod. 2000, December 30; Viewed 8 Jan. 2001).

Writers should put  key information concerning authorship, date posted etc. in the metatags even if it is also provided on the Web page proper.  

The metatags are visible in the HEAD section of the source code, but are not visible in the page opened up in the browser. They are commonly used to provide key information abut the document that can be sought by search engines.

Include the following items (substituting your information for the italicized parts).

If there are several pages connected to a Home Page,  these metatags need go only on the Home Page.

²American Psychological Association. 2001. Publication Manural of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.

Posted Feb. 12, 2001.
Revised Feb. 9, 2002.
Modofied Apr. 12, 2002