Overview

Referencing information in a publication serves several purposes. First and foremost, it lets your readers know that you are not making things up, and that you have consulted authoritative sources for your information. Second, it provides a path for your readers to retrace your steps, should they wish to do so. Thus, enough information must be provided to allow a person to find the source. Third, referencing information provides a framework for the logical progression of the arguments you are making in your report. Therefore, the more accurate and complete your citations are, the more they benefit your readers and grant higher credibility to your writing.

The following are guidelines based on the American Fisheries’ Society Style guide https://fisheries.org/books-journals/writing-tools/style-guide/. Please check with the publisher or other entity to whom you are submitting your work to determine their preferred citation style.

For additional assistance, please contact the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Library fishlib@critfc.org

Cite standalone computer files not included in a larger work such as a report using descriptive information about the file provided on the StreamNet website.

General format:

Author(s). Year. Title [format]. Publisher (if applicable), Place of publication (if applicable). Available: URL

Examples:

AHA Naselle Chinook (2020) from the All StreamNet Documents webpage:

Hatchery Scientific Review Group. 2020. AHA Naselle Chinook [Microsoft Excel file]. Available: https://www.streamnet.org/1-aha-2020_naselle_chinook/

MasterSmoltTrap Access database contained in Cedar Creek Smolt Trap data files from the StreamNet Data Store:

Groesbeck, M. 2007. Cedar Creek Smolt Trap [Microsoft Access file]. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Vancouver, Washington. Available: https://app.streamnet.org/datastore_search_classic.cfm?id=443

Cite data obtained from a database query using descriptive information provided with the data. If additional information is necessary to enable readers to locate the exact source, it may be described in the text where the query is cited.

General format:

Author(s). Year of database query. Title describing data. Available: URL

Examples:

Washougal River fall Chinook salmon data obtained by querying the CAX database:

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2022. Natural origin spawner abundance Washougal River – fall Chinook salmon Washougal River. Available: https://cax.streamnet.org/?species=Chinook%20salmon&run=Fall&popid=229##

Catherine Creek spring Chinook salmon spawner counts obtained by querying the Fish Monitoring Data database:

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2022. Catherine Creek spring Chinook salmon spawner counts. Available: https://www.streamnet.org/data/trends/trend/?trendid=500745

Citations for journal articles obtained from the StreamNet website are formatted the same as for articles obtained from the publisher in digital or print format.

General format:

            Author(s). Year. Article title. Journal title volume(issue): page range (if applicable).

Example:

Injuries from non-retention in gillnet fisheries suppress reproductive maturation in escaped fish from the HSRG Reports and Documents webpage:

Baker, M. R., P. Swanson, P., and G. Young. 2013. Injuries from non-retention in gillnet fisheries suppress reproductive maturation in escaped fish. PLos ONE 8(7).

Citations for reports, white papers, and other narrative documents obtained from the StreamNet website are formatted the same as for printed items.

General format:

Author(s). Year. Title. Publisher or reporting agency, Report or contract/project number (if applicable), Place of publication (if applicable).

Examples:

Developing recovery objectives and phase triggers for salmonid populations from the HSRG Reports and Documents webpage:

Hatchery Scientific Review Group. 2020. Developing recovery objectives and phase triggers for salmonid populations. Hatchery Scientific Review Group.

StreamNet Project fiscal year 2006 annual report from All StreamNet Documents webpage:

Schmidt, B. 2007. StreamNet Project fiscal year 2006. Annual report to the Bonneville Power Administration, Project 1988-108-04, Portland, Oregon.

Cite the webpage from which the text is obtained and indicate the copyright or ‘last updated’ date indicated on the webpage. If additional information is necessary to enable readers to locate the exact source, it may be described in the text where the webpage is cited.

General format:

Author. Copyright or last updated year of webpage. Title of webpage. Available: URL

Example:

Historical information about StreamNet obtained from the About StreamNet webpage

StreamNet. 2021. About StreamNet. Available: https://www.streamnet.org/about/background/

These guidelines are based on the American Fisheries’ Society Style guide https://fisheries.org/books-journals/writing-tools/style-guide/.