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We can cite R with citation(). See also e.g. here. However, I'm unsure whether this is also the right way to cite the R Language Definition specifically.

What is the best way to cite the R Language Definition specifically? citation() or something else?

symbolrush
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    The ``citation()`` function is doing a pretty good job. I think the output (here with data.table) is nice and professional : ``Matt Dowle and Arun Srinivasan (2019). data.table: Extension of `data.frame`. R package version 1.12.2. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=data.table``. I think this is a good way to cite the R Language Definition too. – Gainz Jun 17 '19 at 15:20
  • @Gainz: Of course. It is a great way. I'm just unsure whether I can refer to the *R Language Definition* specifically using `citation()` or some other mechanisms. Since `citation()` will print the link "https://www.r-project.org/" and not the link directly to the language definition.. – symbolrush Jun 17 '19 at 15:23
  • I mean I just do ``citation("base")`` to cite R. Is that what you want? The output is ``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 think this is a good way to do it. – Gainz Jun 17 '19 at 15:24
  • No, not really what I am searching for.. AFAIK, `citation()` and `citation("base")` are equivalent. Both point to "r-project.org" (and not directly to the R Language Definition). But maybe it's ok to just use `citation()` when citing the R Language Definition. – symbolrush Jun 17 '19 at 15:27
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    yes but you are citing R which is made by R-Project, that is why the function return this. The output also give us : ``We have invested a lot of time and effort in creating R, please cite it when using it for data analysis. See also ‘citation("pkgname")’ for citing R packages.`` So I personally think this is the best way to cite R. Maybe someone could give you a better or different answer tho. – Gainz Jun 17 '19 at 15:29

1 Answers1

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Like you would cite any other web resource, since that is how it’s published. E.g. in BibTeX notation:

@misc{RLang,
  title = {{R Language Definition}},
  author = {{R Core Team}},
  year = 2019,
  howpublished = {\url{https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-lang.html}},
  note = {Accessed: 2019-06-17}
}
Konrad Rudolph
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  • That is a good answer. You could also use the one provide from the ``citation()`` function which return (for BibTeX/LaTex) : ``@Manual{, title = {R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing}, author = {{R Core Team}}, organization = {R Foundation for Statistical Computing}, address = {Vienna, Austria}, year = {2019}, url = {https://www.R-project.org/}, }``. I guess it depend if you prefer to link to the R language definition or not. – Gainz Jun 17 '19 at 15:37