Citing RecFIN Data and Documents
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 RecFIN department at recfin@psmfc.org.
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
Example:
Recreational Fishery Catch Estimate Report: Number of Fish (Salmon) obtained by querying the APEX reporting system.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2023. Recreational fishery catch estimate report: number of fish (salmon). Available: https://reports.psmfc.org/recfin/f?p=601:5:3011522174363:INITIAL:::F_SELECTED_NODE:101&cs=3ioq-rW-lrOgkAtnj5REZwf37mYgL49JciohhVyDuZqFU9hfTassOymwHnabf0gygdAAxIj7_-rI_NkRvwMqJ5g
Citations for reports, white papers, and other narrative documents obtained from the RecFIN 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).
Example:
Pacific Recreational Fisheries Regional Implementation Plan from the About RecFIN webpage:
Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Pacific Coast Recreational Fisheries Information Network, States of California, Oregon and Washington. 2023. Pacific recreational fisheries regional implementation plan. NOAA Fisheries.
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:
Information about barotrauma obtained from Fish Descending Devices webpage:
RecFIN. 2024. Fish Descending Devices. Available: https://www.recfin.org/resources/barotrauma/
These guidelines are based on the American Fisheries’ Society Style guide https://fisheries.org/books-journals/writing-tools/style-guide/.
