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st: References


From   "Nick Cox" <[email protected]>
To   <[email protected]>
Subject   st: References
Date   Wed, 11 Apr 2007 23:21:04 +0100

Has anyone implemented the method of Foo and Bar (1997) 
in Stata?

Well, perhaps there is a Foo and Bar (1997) reference, 
even though I just invented it. 

But otherwise, this should mean as little to you 
as do several references that are no more detailed
in many postings to the list -- unless you belong 
to the same microcommunity as the poster. 

Despite several requests this poor practice continues. 

Once more, with a rationale this time: 

1. This practice is uninformative. Good postings
give detail on references, which might be extremely
interesting or useful to other members of the list, 
even if they cannot solve your problem. And the more
that everyone gives good detail, the more the list is informative
to all. 

2. This practice is insensitive. You should try
to remember that the list is interdisciplinary 
and international. The only literature we share is
the Stata documentation (not even that in some cases). 

3. This practice is inefficient. Perhaps someone
has solved the same problem, but they know of it in 
terms of quite different references. A bare reference makes
it more likely that your question will not be understood. 

Despite disciplinary differences, in most disciplines
represented in the Stata community the minimal standard for referencing
papers is surely

Author names with initials. Year. Paper title. Journal
title. Volume: Pages. 

although shuffling of that information is fine too. 

Nick 
[email protected] 


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