Bizarre APA Citation Style question (Steingar, perhaps?)

SkyHog

SkyHog

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I'm pretty good with composition. But I ran across something when writing a paper today that I've never experienced before.

I need to cite something that was written by a pen name that is obviously not a real name, and instead is a screen name. Lets say the name is "d00dz4Life."

How would one cite something like that? I am not bothering with the hanging indent only because I don't know how to format it here, but I'm thinking like so:

d00dz4Life (2010). Story of a Hacker. Hacker Diaries, Retrieved from http://www.hack4life.com

With an in text citation of:
(d00dz4Life, 2010)

Is that accurate, or is there a special case for this?
 
d00dz4Life. (2010, January 01). Story of a Hacker. Hacker Diaries. Retrieved from http://www.hack4life.com

With an in text citation of:
(d00dz4Life, 2010)

You missed a couple of periods but otherwise I think you have it.

If it is a blog or something similar you should cite the retrieval date, not the publish date and use the month and day too IMHO.
 
Actually, I would put in the URL itself, as you suggested. The real point of a citation is so you can go look up the source material. If providing that screen name is sufficient, then it is appropriate, but I doubt it.

I don't honestly see the point of citing a blog, however. First, If you don't know the actual name of the author, there is no actual authority whatsoever, you might as well cite a stranger in the street. Second, even if it was an author working under a nomme de plume like yours truly, something published by a reputable publisher has at least gone through some sort of review, though Murphy only knows what sort. That is another reason why we put the publisher in these sorts of citations. And third, one is supposed to be able to look up the source. Web sites and blogs are highly ephemeral things, and are not sitting in libraries anywhere.

I know if I ran across a citation from someone named d00dz4Life in one of my student's assignments, I myself would be substantially less than impressed.
 
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Nick here are a couple of hints to help with citations.

First pick a style you like unless your teacher or editor has picked one for you. M$ Word has a pretty nice citation manager and can actually do several styles so that all you have to do is fill in the blanks.

Lastly, and this is cool, I use RefWorks for a lot of my research tracking and citation management. http://www.refworks.com/ If this is for school you may even have this integrated with your library. Get an account on there and you will love it.
 
steingar said:
Actually, I would put in the URL itself, as you suggested. The real point of a citation is so you can go look up the source material. If providing that screen name is sufficient, then it is appropriate, but I doubt it.

I don't honestly see the point of citing a blog, however. First, If you don't know the actual name of the author, there is no actual authority whatsoever, you might as well cite a stranger in the street. Second, even if it was an author working under a nomme de plume like yours truly, something published by a reputable publisher has at least gone through some sort of review, though Murphy only knows what sort. That is another reason why we put the publisher in these sorts of citations. And third, one is supposed to be able to look up the source. Web sites and blogs are highly ephemeral things, and are not sitting in libraries anywhere.

I know if I ran across a citation from someone named d00dz4Life in one of my student's assignments, I myself would be substantially less than impressed.
Click to expand...

Context. If you were looking through a manual of hacking information, would you trust "John Smith, Hacker" or "d00dz4Life, Hacker."

Of course, if I were citing "d00dz4Life, Legal Theorist" then I'd agree completely. But anonymity in a case like this breeds credibility. And this is probably the only instance in which that is true.

So - you are saying that you would in text cite it with the url, not the name? I've never seen that.....or are you saying the works cited page would use the url first?

Thanks for the help, man!
 
ScottM said:
Depends on the style. Some have you list both the web publish date and the accessed date.
Click to expand...

Well, its APA, and from what I've seen in APA, you are supposed to list the publish date, not the accessed date for "Online Journals."
 
SkyHog said:
Context. If you were looking through a manual of hacking information, would you trust "John Smith, Hacker" or "d00dz4Life, Hacker."

Of course, if I were citing "d00dz4Life, Legal Theorist" then I'd agree completely. But anonymity in a case like this breeds credibility. And this is probably the only instance in which that is true.

So - you are saying that you would in text cite it with the url, not the name? I've never seen that.....or are you saying the works cited page would use the url first?
Click to expand...

I would trust absolutely nothing that came from a criminal, and would give not credit to that part of an assignment that cited one unless that criminal was reformed and now acting under the aegis of the law. Even then I would have significant skepticism of anything they had to say, and would expect to see as much from my student. Part of what we teach in the sciences is critical thinking. If you've been asked to cite secretive criminals in a scholarly work (unless it is sociological in nature) that part of your curriculum has been badly mangled. How can you depend on the on-line musings of a secretive and possibly felonious individual?

To answer the question asked, I would expect the URL in references and cite it in the text the way proposed earlier, with a pseudonym and publication (or posting) date as suggested, e.g. d00dz4Life, 2010. If it were me, I would get creative about my scholarly research and find something a little more real.
 
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ScottM said:
Nick here are a couple of hints to help with citations.

First pick a style you like unless your teacher or editor has picked one for you. M$ Word has a pretty nice citation manager and can actually do several styles so that all you have to do is fill in the blanks.

Lastly, and this is cool, I use RefWorks for a lot of my research tracking and citation management. http://www.refworks.com/ If this is for school you may even have this integrated with your library. Get an account on there and you will love it.
Click to expand...

Nice to hear form you Scott! Are all your limbs and other bits still attached?
 
steingar said:
I would trust absolutely nothing that came from a criminal, and would give not credit to that part of an assignment that cited one unless that criminal was reformed and now acting under the aegis of the law. Even then I would have significant skepticism of anything they had to say, and would expect to see as much from my student. Part of what we teach in the sciences is critical thinking. If you've been asked to cite secretive criminals in a scholarly work (unless it is sociological in nature) that part of your curriculum has been badly mangled. How can you depend on the on-line musings of a secretive and possibly felonious individual?

To answer the question asked, I would expect the URL in references and cite it in the text the way proposed earlier, with a pseudonym and publication (or posting) date as suggested, e.g. d00dz4Life, 2010. If it were me, I would get creative about my scholarly research and find something a little more real.
Click to expand...

So if you were to intend to write a paper on the science of hacking, you'd stick to quotes from librarians and teachers and completely avoid research on the actual topic you're writing about?

Come on dude, I agree with you about this 99% of the time. But there are exceptions, and a case where a writer MUST be anonymous is one of them.
 
SkyHog said:
So if you were to intend to write a paper on the science of hacking, you'd stick to quotes from librarians and teachers and completely avoid research on the actual topic you're writing about?

Come on dude, I agree with you about this 99% of the time. But there are exceptions, and a case where a writer MUST be anonymous is one of them.
Click to expand...

I would be more likely to go find law enforcement sources or technical literature if it were me. I know citing secret underground individuals is edgier and more exciting, but what good is a citation when you have no idea of the veracity of the source?
 
Well, two points:
1. Not all hacking is illegal
2. Wouldn't it be more responsible to get both sides, rather than just the legal enforcement side of it?
 
SkyHog said:
Well, two points:
1. Not all hacking is illegal
Click to expand...

If your source finds it necessary to remain hidden, I would suggest he or she is doing something illicit.

SkyHog said:
2. Wouldn't it be more responsible to get both sides, rather than just the legal enforcement side of it?
Click to expand...

Yes, which I why I would seek out literature from reformed hackers. However, it does depend on the actual subject of your assignment. If you are writing about the sociology of hacking, then your clandestine individuals might indeed be as good a source as you can get. It is hard to researcht he sociology of criminals without talking to a few. If you are writing about the history of hacking, then you have tons of literature on the subject. If you are writing about the science and/or technology of hacking, then there are numerous technical manuals and journals on the subject.
 
If you're quoting an anonymous source, it must be cited.
The source may not be authoritative, it may be simply to use a good quote or to explain the viewpoint from the outside.

Citing does not necessarily imply authoritativeness, merely identifying those items which are not the author's own, original thoughts and/or ideas.
 
Ibid.
Op. Cit.
E Pluribus Unum
 
Every time I see this thread title I think it ought to be something that I can answer but I am clueless...
 
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