ASCL entries can be cited as follows:
author, year, version, Astrophysics Source Code Library, record ascl ID
For example:
Pontzen A., Roškar R., Stinson G., Woods R., 2013, version 0.46, Astrophysics Source Code Library, record ascl:1305.002
As an aid to the reader, the name of the software can be included:
author, year, name, version, Astrophysics Source Code Library, ascl ID
For example:
Pontzen A., Roškar R., Stinson G. S. et al 2013 pynbody: Astrophysics Simulation Analysis for Python, version 0.46, Astrophysics Source Code Library ascl:1305.002
These citation methods follow the Force11 Software Citation principles. The BibTeX ADS provides for the code entry above is:
@MISC{2013ascl.soft05002P,
author = {{Pontzen}, Andrew and {Ro{\v{s}}kar}, Rok and {Stinson}, Greg and {Woods}, Rory},
title = "{pynbody: N-Body/SPH analysis for python}",
keywords = {Software},
howpublished = {Astrophysics Source Code Library, record ascl:1305.002},
year = 2013,
month = may,
eid = {ascl:1305.002},
pages = {ascl:1305.002},
archivePrefix = {ascl},
eprint = {1305.002},
adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013ascl.soft05002P},
adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System}
}
The version number needs to be added to the ADS bibtex; in this example, version = 0.46 would be used.
Please use the entire ascl ID (ascl:xxxx.xxx) in the reference, as that enables ADS to pick up the citation.
If you are submitting a paper to a refereed journal which uses a new code you have developed, you can request the code be added to the ASCL and assigned an ascl ID so this unique identifier can be included in your paper by contacting the editors at editor@ascl.net.
Please note: For ADS and other indices to find and count the citation, the ascl ID needs to be formatted just as it appears in the code entry, e.g., ascl:1305.002. Many journals have updated their BibTeX style files to provide support for software citations; please consider checking to ensure the style files you use are up-to-date.
Some BibTeX styles (.bst), especially old ones, don't support the eprint field, which ADS uses when generating the BibTeX for ASCL and arXiv entries. The lack of support for the eprint field results in a citation that formats the ascl ID incorrectly; for ADS to be able to find and count the citation, the ascl ID needs to be formatted just as it appears in the code entry, e.g. ascl:1010.051 for NEMO. The arXiv site has a list of BibTeX styles that have been updated to support the eprint field, and Norman Gray's nice urlbst code can add this functionality to existing .bst files. Many journals have updated their BibTeX style files to provide support for the eprint field; please consider checking to ensure the style files you use are up-to-date. (Last update: 03/31/2023)