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Citation Policy
Citations of PDS4 Data
Guidelines for data users regarding how to cite PDS4 Data. Go to PDS website
Citations of PDS3 Data
Citations of PDS data in scientific literature should include the components listed below. A citation may refer to a data set or a data set collection. The proper citation(s) should be specified in the AAREADME file distributed with the data. The citation belongs in the Data Set Description catalog file as the value for the keyword CITATION_DESC. This file is usually named dataset.cat or ds.cat, and is found in the catalog directory of an archive volume. Older archive volumes may not have this keyword.
Author(s)he first author is usually the principal investigator or team leader who provides the data. He or she may choose to include other members of the team in the author list. In cases where data sets are produced at the PI's home institution with minimal assistance from PDS, this author list may be sufficient. In cases where data and other archive components are delivered to a PDS Node which then assembles them into archive volumes, the Node personnel may or may not be included in the author list, depending on how much effort they contribute to producing the archive. The exact author list should be determined by agreement between the data provider and the PDS Node.

In some cases it may not be appropriate to list the principal investigator as first author. For example, if a PDS Node restores a data set from a long-ago mission, without help from the original data producer, then the Node member who leads the restoration should be the first author.
Title A descriptive title for the data set should be given (usually the data set name).
"NASA Planetary Data System"The words "NASA Planetary Data System" should be included in the citation as the publisher of the data.
Data Set ID The PDS data set ID or data set collection ID should be given to uniquely identify the data.
Volume ID (Optional)If the data set resides on one or more archive volumes, then the citation may include the volume ID, a range of volume IDs, or a volume set ID.
YearThe year in which the data set was published should be given.
Examples
Citation for a data set produced jointly by data providers and PDS node. Both data providers and Node personnel are authors.
Smith, D., G. Neumann, P. Ford, E. A. Guinness, and S. Slavney, "Mars Global Surveyor Laser Altimeter Precision Experiment Data Record", NASA Planetary Data System, MGS-M-MOLA-3-PEDR-L1A-V1.0, vols. MGSL_0001 - MGSL_0002, 1999.
Citation for a data set produced mostly by the data providers. Only the data providers are listed as authors.
Christensen, P. R., N. Gorelick, G. Mehall, and K. Bender, "Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer Standard Data Record", NASA Planetary Data System, MGS-M-TES-3-TSDR-V1.0, vols. MGST_0001 - MGST_0061, 1999.
Citation for a restored data set. Only the Node personnel are authors.
Arvidson, R. E., and E. A. Guinness, "Viking Orbiter Visual Imaging Subsystem Experiment Data Record", NASA Planetary Data System, VO1/VO2-M-VIS-2-EDR-V2.0, vols. VO_1001 - VO_1064, 1994.
Citation for a data set collection.
Arvidson, R., E. Guinness, S. Slavney, D. Acevedo, J. Hyon, M. Martin, R. S. Saunders, and T. W. Thompson, "Pre-Magellan Radar and Gravity Data", PREMGN-E/L/H/M/V-4/5-RAD/GRAV-V1.0, vol. MG_1001, 1990.
Citation for a data set that is part of a data set collection.
Evans, D. L, R. E. Arvidson, E. A. Guinness, "AIRSAR Calibrated Reduced Data Record", NASA Planetary Data System, NDC8-E-ASAR-3-RDR-IMAGE-V1.0, vols. GR_0001 - GR_0005, 1991.
Citation for a data set that is not on an archive volume.
Lupishko, D., "Asteroid Polarimetric Database Version 2.0", NASA Planetary Data System, EAR-A-3-RDR-APD-POLARIMETRY-V2.0, 1997.