FAQ: Difference between revisions

FAQ (edit)

Revision as of 23:16, 27 May 2015

733 bytes added , 27 May 2015

→‎How can I cite Octave?: update and expand section

Carandraug

Bureaucrats, Administrators

659

edits

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 There are no plans to remove the gnuplot backend. While a better backend may some day become the new default plotter, the gnuplot backend will still be available as long as our users find it useful.
-==How can I cite Octave?==
+== How can I cite Octave? ==
-Pointing to http://www.octave.org is good, because that gives people a direct way to find out more. If citation of a URL is allowed by the publisher you can use this entry (update year and version accordingly!):
+Octave is free software and does not legally bind you to cite it.  However,
+we have invested a lot of time and effort in creating GNU Octave, and we
+would appreciate if you would cite if you used.
-     <nowiki>@MISC{octave:2014,
+Run {{codeline|citation}} at the Octave prompt for details on how to best
-     author = {{Octave community}},
+cite the Octave version you are running.  Certain Octave packages also have
-     keywords = {Octave,Software},
+recommended citations in which case use {{codeline|citation package_name}}.
-     title = {{GNU Octave 3.8.1}},
-     url = {www.gnu.org/software/octave/},
-     year = {2014}
-     }</nowiki>
-if you also want to point to a traditional reference, then you can cite the Octave manual:
+Ideally, you should cite the software itself, not a book or manual, like so:
-     <nowiki>@BOOK{eaton:2009,
+  @software{octave,
-     author    = {John W. Eaton and David Bateman and S\oren Hauberg},
+     author = {John W. Eaton and others},
-     title     = {{GNU Octave} version 3.0.1 manual: a high-level interactive language for numerical computations},
+     title = {GNU Octave},
-     publisher = {CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform},
+     url = {http://www.octave.org},
-     year      = {2009},
+     version = {4.0.0},
-     note      = {{ISBN} 1441413006},
+     date = {2015-05-27},
-    url       = {http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/doc/interpreter},
+  }
-    }</nowiki>
+It is recommended to do so on a first draft submitted.  However, some editors
-If you want to acknowledge Octave instead of citing it, you can use text such as this:
+may disallow this, in which case you can still make a general reference
+to Octave in the text, such as:
 <blockquote>
-The data has been numerically analyzed with the free software package GNU Octave.
+This work made use of the free software package GNU Octave, and the authors are grateful for the support of the Octave development community.
 </blockquote>
-or
+If a more traditional reference is required, there is also a manual for each
+Octave release that can be cited:
-<blockquote>
+  @book{,
-This work made use of the free software package GNU Octave, and the authors are grateful for the support of the Octave development community.
+    author    = {John W. Eaton, David Bateman, S\oren Hauberg, and Rik Wehbring},
-</blockquote>
+    title     = {{GNU Octave} version 4.0.0 manual: a high-level interactive language for numerical computations},
+    year      = {2015},
+    url       = {http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/doc/interpreter},
+  }
+Note that there are two reasons for citing the software used.  One is giving
+recognition to the work done by others which we already addressed. The other
+is giving details on the system used so that experiments can be replicated.
+This is just as important, if not more.
+For this, you should cite the version of Octave and all packages used, as
+well as any details of your setup as part of your Methods.  In addition,
+you should make your source available.  See
+[http://software.ac.uk/so-exactly-what-software-did-you-use How to cite and describe software]
+for more details and an in depth discussion.
 ==When will feature X be released or implemented?==