[Python-Dev] Official citation for Python

[Jacqueline Kazil]

Cool, thanks!

On Sun, Sep 16, 2018 at 7:19 PM Brett Cannon <brett at python.org> wrote:

>
>
> On Sun, 16 Sep 2018 at 15:23 Jacqueline Kazil <jackiekazil at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> RE: Why cite Python….
>>
>> I would say that in this paper —
>> http://conference.scipy.org/proceedings/scipy2015/pdfs/jacqueline_kazil.pdf,
>> where we introduced a new library, we should have cited Python, because the
>> library was based in Python. We were riding on the coattails of Python and
>> if Python did not exist, then this library would not exist.
>>
>> (taking this a level higher)
>> Just as someone doing research (a specific application) should cite the
>> Mesa library. Without the good and bad that is Mesa, their research would
>> have taken a different form.
>>
>> Since my Ph.D is on Mesa, I will be citing Python there.
>>
>> I think for more insight we can look at who has cited some of Guido’s
>> stuff…
>> For example:
>> https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=900267235435084077&as_sdt=20005&sciodt=0,9&hl=en
>>
>> Does that help?
>> RE: Just like R - Versions
>>
>> @Stephen
>> Are you suggesting major versions or minor versions?
>> RE: Guido’s prio works
>>
>> Some of those have weight already. Should we be picking one those and
>> pointing people to that?
>> Final decision
>>
>> I am going to the NumFocus summit for maintainers of Science Python
>> libraries next week. I believe that the Science Python community is where
>> the main audience for this is… correct me if you think this is a wrong
>> assumption.
>>
>> I thought I could take two to three concrete formats and user test there
>> and report on how community members who would be using the citation feel.
>>
>> Good idea? Bad idea?
>>
> I think seeing how some other academics other than the ones here
> definitely wouldn't hurt.
>
> -Brett
>
>
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 16, 2018 at 4:35 AM Stephen J. Turnbull <
>> turnbull.stephen.fw at u.tsukuba.ac.jp> wrote:
>>
>>> Jacqueline Kazil writes:
>>>
>>>  > *As a user, I am writing an academic paper and I need to cite Python.
>>> *
>>>
>>> I don't understand the meaning of "need" and "Python".  To understand
>>> your code, one likely needs the Language Reference and surely the
>>> Library Reference, and probably documentation of the APIs and
>>> semantics of various third party code.
>>>
>>> To just give credit to the Python project for the suite of tools
>>> you've used, a citation like the R Project's should do (I think this
>>> has appeared more than once, I copy it from José María Mateos's
>>> parallel post):
>>>
>>>  > To cite R in publications use:
>>>
>>>  >   R Core Team (2018). R: A language and environment for statistical
>>>  >   computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.
>>>  >   URL https://www.R-project.org/.
>>>
>>> I guess for Python that would be something like
>>>
>>> """
>>> Python Core Developers [2018].  Python: A general purpose language for
>>> computing, with batteries included.  Python Software Foundation,
>>> Beaverton, OR.  https://www.python.org/.
>>> """
>>>
>>> I like R's citation() builtin.
>>>
>>> One caveat: I get the impression that the R Project is far more
>>> centralized than Python is, that there are not huge independent
>>> projects like SciPy and NumPy and Twisted and so on, nor independent
>>> implementations of the core language like PyPy and Jython.  So I
>>> suspect that for most serious scientific computing you would need to
>>> cite one or more third-pary projects as well, and perhaps an
>>> implementation such as PyPy or Jython.
>>>
>>> Jacqueline again:
>>>
>>>  > Let's throw reproducibility out the window for now (<--- something
>>>  > I never thought I would say), because that should be captured in
>>>  > the code, not in the citations.
>>>  >
>>>  > So, if we don't need the specific version of Python, then maybe
>>>  > creating one citation is all we need.
>>>
>>> Do you realize that `3 / 2` means different computations depending on
>>> the version of Python?  And that `"a string"` produces different
>>> objects with different duck-types depending on the version?
>>>
>>> As far as handling versions, this would do, I think:
>>>
>>> f"""
>>> Python Core Developers [{release_year}].  Python: A general purpose
>>> language for computing, with batteries included, version
>>> {version_number}.  Python Software Foundation, Beaverton, OR.
>>> Project URL: https://www.python.org/.
>>> """
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jacqueline Kazil | @jackiekazil
>>
>>
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>

-- 
Jacqueline Kazil | @jackiekazil
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