How to cite

How to cite this database

This database is built to be cited and built on, the way researchers cite a reference work or a shared dataset rather than treating it as something to download once and forget. It has a stable citation form, and every single record carries its own permanent identifier (for example GCMD-001) and a copy-ready "Cite this entry" block on its page. When you draw on a record, cite both the record and, where you are using a specific empirical claim, the underlying study listed on that record's page.

Every record page ends with a "Cite this entry" block carrying that record's permanent ID and a copy button. The form is:

For an empirical claim taken from a record, cite the original study directly, using the full reference on the record page. For example:

Interview records in The Color Testimony Project follow the oral-history form used by the Densho Digital Repository: narrator, interviewer, date, identifier, collection. Each interview page ends with a copy-ready block in this form:

The wave 1 dataset as a whole has its own citation on the fieldwork page. The identifier scheme for interviews (CTP-CN-01 and so on) is documented on the standards page.

The database does not yet carry a DOI. The planned step is a Zenodo deposit of the wave 1 dataset (fieldwork.json, ratings.csv, and the codebook) once every wave 1 contributor's written attribution is in; the DOI will then appear here and on the fieldwork page, and the record-level citations above will stay valid because their identifiers do not change. Until then, cite by the URL forms on this page.

The database is a secondary source: it gathers, structures, and synthesizes. The studies it cites are the primary evidence. Citing both makes your provenance honest and lets a reader trace any claim back to where it was actually measured. If you only have room for one citation, cite the primary study for an empirical number and the record for a synthesized or cultural-background statement.

Identifiers follow the pattern GCMD-NNN for the color records and GCMD-CNN for the case records. An ID is assigned once and never reused or reassigned, so a citation stays valid across revisions.

Identifiers are stable: a record's ID does not change even if its text is revised. Revisions are noted by the "Updated" date in the masthead. Adding a new record (see Contribute) mints a new ID and never alters an existing one.