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How old can references or sources in a thesis be?
How can I tell if a paper is too old to be a reference for my research?Style guides on structured/ordered bibliography?Can I use informal sources (particularly online sources)?How to find credible sources for a general reference?What is the standard way to include introduction and references parts to a masters thesis?References in a PhD thesis in mathematicsHow cite sources of 100-years-old analytical technique in a theory section?How detailed do I have to provide sourcesBest way to find references for statements in the thesisIs using uncited references in master thesis a good idea?“Everything in an encyclopedia is Common Knowledge” - actually true?
I have read that references in scientific papers should be no more than 2-3 years old, since such fields move fast, and no more than 10 years for arts or related fields:
A good rule of thumb is to use sources published in the past 10 years
for research in the arts, humanities, literature, history, etc.
For faster-paced fields, sources published in the past 2-3 years is a
good benchmark since these sources are more current and reflect the
newest discoveries, theories, processes, or best practices.
However, I believe that's subjective, so how old is it for a reference to be "too old" to cite?
citations thesis masters online-resource
edited 3 hours ago
Nat
5,63431640
asked 9 hours ago
Muizz MahdyMuizz Mahdy
535
New contributor
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
|
show 10 more comments
I have read that references in scientific papers should be no more than 2-3 years old, since such fields move fast, and no more than 10 years for arts or related fields:
A good rule of thumb is to use sources published in the past 10 years
for research in the arts, humanities, literature, history, etc.
For faster-paced fields, sources published in the past 2-3 years is a
good benchmark since these sources are more current and reflect the
newest discoveries, theories, processes, or best practices.
However, I believe that's subjective, so how old is it for a reference to be "too old" to cite?
citations thesis masters online-resource
edited 3 hours ago
Nat
5,63431640
asked 9 hours ago
Muizz MahdyMuizz Mahdy
535
New contributor
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
13
There is no "too old to cite". I've actually referenced some of Adolf Fick's and Einstein's original papers in my dissertation. (And they were such fun to read!) Also, that references need to have a certain age is nonsense. Where did you read this?
– Roland
9 hours ago
2
@Roland strictly speaking you are right: as written the OP states that a publication must be older than 2 years before you can cite it. However, given the content of the question I suspect that the OP intended to say that a publication must be younger than 2 years.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
1
No study is too old to cite, but not all studies "age well". Especially in fast paced discipline studies can easily be obsolete. However, this does not mean that all older studies in those disciplines become obsolete, just that many do. You can and should use those non-obsolete older ones.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
2
If you are still allowed to reference Plato, that's more than 10 years...
– Solar Mike
8 hours ago
2
I notice the web page you cited says "A good rule of thumb is" and "is a good benchmark", which is a lot softer than your wording suggests, especially in trying to pin-point the exact suggested constraints. Also, the librarian's answer clearly seems to be designed for undergraduate research papers and projects, and a quick check shows the university serves almost entirely undergraduates. Finally, a look at the "Related FAQs" titles on the right side shows the kinds of things (allowing for a 40 year gap) covered in my required freshman English composition course.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
|
show 10 more comments
I have read that references in scientific papers should be no more than 2-3 years old, since such fields move fast, and no more than 10 years for arts or related fields:
A good rule of thumb is to use sources published in the past 10 years
for research in the arts, humanities, literature, history, etc.
For faster-paced fields, sources published in the past 2-3 years is a
good benchmark since these sources are more current and reflect the
newest discoveries, theories, processes, or best practices.
However, I believe that's subjective, so how old is it for a reference to be "too old" to cite?
citations thesis masters online-resource
edited 3 hours ago
Nat
5,63431640
asked 9 hours ago
Muizz MahdyMuizz Mahdy
535
New contributor
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I have read that references in scientific papers should be no more than 2-3 years old, since such fields move fast, and no more than 10 years for arts or related fields:
A good rule of thumb is to use sources published in the past 10 years
for research in the arts, humanities, literature, history, etc.
For faster-paced fields, sources published in the past 2-3 years is a
good benchmark since these sources are more current and reflect the
newest discoveries, theories, processes, or best practices.
However, I believe that's subjective, so how old is it for a reference to be "too old" to cite?
citations thesis masters online-resource
citations thesis masters online-resource
edited 3 hours ago
Nat
5,63431640
asked 9 hours ago
Muizz MahdyMuizz Mahdy
535
New contributor
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 3 hours ago
Nat
5,63431640
asked 9 hours ago
Muizz MahdyMuizz Mahdy
535
New contributor
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 3 hours ago
Nat
5,63431640
edited 3 hours ago
Nat
5,63431640
edited 3 hours ago
Nat
5,63431640
5,63431640
asked 9 hours ago
Muizz MahdyMuizz Mahdy
535
New contributor
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 9 hours ago
Muizz MahdyMuizz Mahdy
535
asked 9 hours ago
Muizz MahdyMuizz Mahdy
535
535
New contributor
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
13
There is no "too old to cite". I've actually referenced some of Adolf Fick's and Einstein's original papers in my dissertation. (And they were such fun to read!) Also, that references need to have a certain age is nonsense. Where did you read this?
– Roland
9 hours ago
2
@Roland strictly speaking you are right: as written the OP states that a publication must be older than 2 years before you can cite it. However, given the content of the question I suspect that the OP intended to say that a publication must be younger than 2 years.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
1
No study is too old to cite, but not all studies "age well". Especially in fast paced discipline studies can easily be obsolete. However, this does not mean that all older studies in those disciplines become obsolete, just that many do. You can and should use those non-obsolete older ones.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
2
If you are still allowed to reference Plato, that's more than 10 years...
– Solar Mike
8 hours ago
2
I notice the web page you cited says "A good rule of thumb is" and "is a good benchmark", which is a lot softer than your wording suggests, especially in trying to pin-point the exact suggested constraints. Also, the librarian's answer clearly seems to be designed for undergraduate research papers and projects, and a quick check shows the university serves almost entirely undergraduates. Finally, a look at the "Related FAQs" titles on the right side shows the kinds of things (allowing for a 40 year gap) covered in my required freshman English composition course.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
|
show 10 more comments
13
There is no "too old to cite". I've actually referenced some of Adolf Fick's and Einstein's original papers in my dissertation. (And they were such fun to read!) Also, that references need to have a certain age is nonsense. Where did you read this?
– Roland
9 hours ago
2
@Roland strictly speaking you are right: as written the OP states that a publication must be older than 2 years before you can cite it. However, given the content of the question I suspect that the OP intended to say that a publication must be younger than 2 years.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
1
No study is too old to cite, but not all studies "age well". Especially in fast paced discipline studies can easily be obsolete. However, this does not mean that all older studies in those disciplines become obsolete, just that many do. You can and should use those non-obsolete older ones.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
2
If you are still allowed to reference Plato, that's more than 10 years...
– Solar Mike
8 hours ago
2
I notice the web page you cited says "A good rule of thumb is" and "is a good benchmark", which is a lot softer than your wording suggests, especially in trying to pin-point the exact suggested constraints. Also, the librarian's answer clearly seems to be designed for undergraduate research papers and projects, and a quick check shows the university serves almost entirely undergraduates. Finally, a look at the "Related FAQs" titles on the right side shows the kinds of things (allowing for a 40 year gap) covered in my required freshman English composition course.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
13
13
There is no "too old to cite". I've actually referenced some of Adolf Fick's and Einstein's original papers in my dissertation. (And they were such fun to read!) Also, that references need to have a certain age is nonsense. Where did you read this?
– Roland
9 hours ago
There is no "too old to cite". I've actually referenced some of Adolf Fick's and Einstein's original papers in my dissertation. (And they were such fun to read!) Also, that references need to have a certain age is nonsense. Where did you read this?
– Roland
9 hours ago
2
2
@Roland strictly speaking you are right: as written the OP states that a publication must be older than 2 years before you can cite it. However, given the content of the question I suspect that the OP intended to say that a publication must be younger than 2 years.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
@Roland strictly speaking you are right: as written the OP states that a publication must be older than 2 years before you can cite it. However, given the content of the question I suspect that the OP intended to say that a publication must be younger than 2 years.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
1
1
No study is too old to cite, but not all studies "age well". Especially in fast paced discipline studies can easily be obsolete. However, this does not mean that all older studies in those disciplines become obsolete, just that many do. You can and should use those non-obsolete older ones.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
No study is too old to cite, but not all studies "age well". Especially in fast paced discipline studies can easily be obsolete. However, this does not mean that all older studies in those disciplines become obsolete, just that many do. You can and should use those non-obsolete older ones.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
2
2
If you are still allowed to reference Plato, that's more than 10 years...
– Solar Mike
8 hours ago
If you are still allowed to reference Plato, that's more than 10 years...
– Solar Mike
8 hours ago
2
2
I notice the web page you cited says "A good rule of thumb is" and "is a good benchmark", which is a lot softer than your wording suggests, especially in trying to pin-point the exact suggested constraints. Also, the librarian's answer clearly seems to be designed for undergraduate research papers and projects, and a quick check shows the university serves almost entirely undergraduates. Finally, a look at the "Related FAQs" titles on the right side shows the kinds of things (allowing for a 40 year gap) covered in my required freshman English composition course.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
I notice the web page you cited says "A good rule of thumb is" and "is a good benchmark", which is a lot softer than your wording suggests, especially in trying to pin-point the exact suggested constraints. Also, the librarian's answer clearly seems to be designed for undergraduate research papers and projects, and a quick check shows the university serves almost entirely undergraduates. Finally, a look at the "Related FAQs" titles on the right side shows the kinds of things (allowing for a 40 year gap) covered in my required freshman English composition course.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
|
show 10 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
References can be as old as they need to be to cover the material. I had some that were more than 30 years old. But if all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why.
You must also be sure you cover the most current research in your field. A few in my own dissertation were for material published in the same year as my own work.
The link given in the comments and the revised question seems to be directed toward undergraduate research assignments, and the "ten years" reference is a part of an example assignment, not a requirement given by the Shapiro Library. The key idea in the link is that references must be "somewhat current."
For a thesis or dissertation, one must cover the field, including both early and very new research.
answered 7 hours ago
Bob BrownBob Brown
20k96084
1
Indeed, I suspect that when flipping through a typical issue of a typical journal in most any field, one will find several papers whose references include items listed as "to appear", or "forthcoming", or "under review", or "submitted", etc.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
2
"References can be as old as they need to be" -- while I agree, the link the OP posted suggests that there are assignments saying "Sources must be published in the last 10 years".
– Ingo
7 hours ago
1
@Ingo Well, yes, but that link seems directed at undergraduate research assignments, and in in fact, that "last ten years" bit is prefaced with, "If it’s a requirement for your assignment..." For a doctoral dissertation, one is expected to cover the field.
– Bob Brown
7 hours ago
6
Something worth mentioning might be the difference between referencing research results, where you want to try and have relevant recent material, and referencing ideas, which might predate their use in actual research. For example, In my Master's thesis I referenced a pre-1900 paper by Karl Pearson for an idea he discussed that was important for my research, but then referenced modern research papers for my actual implementation. Another example might be natural selection; depending on the context, Darwin is an obvious reference.
– anjama
6 hours ago
"If all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why, A few of mine were for material published in the same year as my own work." I'm finding this sentence hard to understand, when was your work published? When was the work citing these things published?
– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
There is no rule about the age of citations. For example in my PhD-thesis I quoted some math-papers from 1600s that were originally written in latin (but those were exceptions).
Much more relavant than the year is the content of a citation and that you cover the relevant literature.
Also, you might want to include a few (relevant!) citations from recent years in order to show that you did your reading not just at the beginning of your thesis and then ignored everything afterwards.
answered 4 hours ago
lordylordy
63115
1
In math it is common to cite old papers. 1600s is indeed exceptionally old but it is not uncommon to cite 10-100 years old papers.
– Yanko
1 hour ago
I would say that it would be a bit unusual for a math paper to have most of its references under ten years old (unless the authors give only a very brief account of the context and there is only a handful of references in all).
– tomasz
30 mins ago
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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References can be as old as they need to be to cover the material. I had some that were more than 30 years old. But if all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why.
You must also be sure you cover the most current research in your field. A few in my own dissertation were for material published in the same year as my own work.
The link given in the comments and the revised question seems to be directed toward undergraduate research assignments, and the "ten years" reference is a part of an example assignment, not a requirement given by the Shapiro Library. The key idea in the link is that references must be "somewhat current."
For a thesis or dissertation, one must cover the field, including both early and very new research.
answered 7 hours ago
Bob BrownBob Brown
20k96084
1
Indeed, I suspect that when flipping through a typical issue of a typical journal in most any field, one will find several papers whose references include items listed as "to appear", or "forthcoming", or "under review", or "submitted", etc.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
2
"References can be as old as they need to be" -- while I agree, the link the OP posted suggests that there are assignments saying "Sources must be published in the last 10 years".
– Ingo
7 hours ago
1
@Ingo Well, yes, but that link seems directed at undergraduate research assignments, and in in fact, that "last ten years" bit is prefaced with, "If it’s a requirement for your assignment..." For a doctoral dissertation, one is expected to cover the field.
– Bob Brown
7 hours ago
6
Something worth mentioning might be the difference between referencing research results, where you want to try and have relevant recent material, and referencing ideas, which might predate their use in actual research. For example, In my Master's thesis I referenced a pre-1900 paper by Karl Pearson for an idea he discussed that was important for my research, but then referenced modern research papers for my actual implementation. Another example might be natural selection; depending on the context, Darwin is an obvious reference.
– anjama
6 hours ago
"If all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why, A few of mine were for material published in the same year as my own work." I'm finding this sentence hard to understand, when was your work published? When was the work citing these things published?
– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
References can be as old as they need to be to cover the material. I had some that were more than 30 years old. But if all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why.
You must also be sure you cover the most current research in your field. A few in my own dissertation were for material published in the same year as my own work.
The link given in the comments and the revised question seems to be directed toward undergraduate research assignments, and the "ten years" reference is a part of an example assignment, not a requirement given by the Shapiro Library. The key idea in the link is that references must be "somewhat current."
For a thesis or dissertation, one must cover the field, including both early and very new research.
answered 7 hours ago
Bob BrownBob Brown
20k96084
1
Indeed, I suspect that when flipping through a typical issue of a typical journal in most any field, one will find several papers whose references include items listed as "to appear", or "forthcoming", or "under review", or "submitted", etc.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
2
"References can be as old as they need to be" -- while I agree, the link the OP posted suggests that there are assignments saying "Sources must be published in the last 10 years".
– Ingo
7 hours ago
1
@Ingo Well, yes, but that link seems directed at undergraduate research assignments, and in in fact, that "last ten years" bit is prefaced with, "If it’s a requirement for your assignment..." For a doctoral dissertation, one is expected to cover the field.
– Bob Brown
7 hours ago
6
Something worth mentioning might be the difference between referencing research results, where you want to try and have relevant recent material, and referencing ideas, which might predate their use in actual research. For example, In my Master's thesis I referenced a pre-1900 paper by Karl Pearson for an idea he discussed that was important for my research, but then referenced modern research papers for my actual implementation. Another example might be natural selection; depending on the context, Darwin is an obvious reference.
– anjama
6 hours ago
"If all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why, A few of mine were for material published in the same year as my own work." I'm finding this sentence hard to understand, when was your work published? When was the work citing these things published?
– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
References can be as old as they need to be to cover the material. I had some that were more than 30 years old. But if all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why.
You must also be sure you cover the most current research in your field. A few in my own dissertation were for material published in the same year as my own work.
The link given in the comments and the revised question seems to be directed toward undergraduate research assignments, and the "ten years" reference is a part of an example assignment, not a requirement given by the Shapiro Library. The key idea in the link is that references must be "somewhat current."
For a thesis or dissertation, one must cover the field, including both early and very new research.
answered 7 hours ago
Bob BrownBob Brown
20k96084
References can be as old as they need to be to cover the material. I had some that were more than 30 years old. But if all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why.
You must also be sure you cover the most current research in your field. A few in my own dissertation were for material published in the same year as my own work.
The link given in the comments and the revised question seems to be directed toward undergraduate research assignments, and the "ten years" reference is a part of an example assignment, not a requirement given by the Shapiro Library. The key idea in the link is that references must be "somewhat current."
For a thesis or dissertation, one must cover the field, including both early and very new research.
answered 7 hours ago
Bob BrownBob Brown
20k96084
edited 2 hours ago
answered 7 hours ago
Bob BrownBob Brown
20k96084
answered 7 hours ago
Bob BrownBob Brown
20k96084
answered 7 hours ago
Bob BrownBob Brown
20k96084
20k96084
1
Indeed, I suspect that when flipping through a typical issue of a typical journal in most any field, one will find several papers whose references include items listed as "to appear", or "forthcoming", or "under review", or "submitted", etc.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
2
"References can be as old as they need to be" -- while I agree, the link the OP posted suggests that there are assignments saying "Sources must be published in the last 10 years".
– Ingo
7 hours ago
1
@Ingo Well, yes, but that link seems directed at undergraduate research assignments, and in in fact, that "last ten years" bit is prefaced with, "If it’s a requirement for your assignment..." For a doctoral dissertation, one is expected to cover the field.
– Bob Brown
7 hours ago
6
Something worth mentioning might be the difference between referencing research results, where you want to try and have relevant recent material, and referencing ideas, which might predate their use in actual research. For example, In my Master's thesis I referenced a pre-1900 paper by Karl Pearson for an idea he discussed that was important for my research, but then referenced modern research papers for my actual implementation. Another example might be natural selection; depending on the context, Darwin is an obvious reference.
– anjama
6 hours ago
"If all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why, A few of mine were for material published in the same year as my own work." I'm finding this sentence hard to understand, when was your work published? When was the work citing these things published?
– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
1
Indeed, I suspect that when flipping through a typical issue of a typical journal in most any field, one will find several papers whose references include items listed as "to appear", or "forthcoming", or "under review", or "submitted", etc.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
2
"References can be as old as they need to be" -- while I agree, the link the OP posted suggests that there are assignments saying "Sources must be published in the last 10 years".
– Ingo
7 hours ago
1
@Ingo Well, yes, but that link seems directed at undergraduate research assignments, and in in fact, that "last ten years" bit is prefaced with, "If it’s a requirement for your assignment..." For a doctoral dissertation, one is expected to cover the field.
– Bob Brown
7 hours ago
6
Something worth mentioning might be the difference between referencing research results, where you want to try and have relevant recent material, and referencing ideas, which might predate their use in actual research. For example, In my Master's thesis I referenced a pre-1900 paper by Karl Pearson for an idea he discussed that was important for my research, but then referenced modern research papers for my actual implementation. Another example might be natural selection; depending on the context, Darwin is an obvious reference.
– anjama
6 hours ago
"If all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why, A few of mine were for material published in the same year as my own work." I'm finding this sentence hard to understand, when was your work published? When was the work citing these things published?
– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago
1
1
Indeed, I suspect that when flipping through a typical issue of a typical journal in most any field, one will find several papers whose references include items listed as "to appear", or "forthcoming", or "under review", or "submitted", etc.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
Indeed, I suspect that when flipping through a typical issue of a typical journal in most any field, one will find several papers whose references include items listed as "to appear", or "forthcoming", or "under review", or "submitted", etc.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago
2
2
"References can be as old as they need to be" -- while I agree, the link the OP posted suggests that there are assignments saying "Sources must be published in the last 10 years".
– Ingo
7 hours ago
"References can be as old as they need to be" -- while I agree, the link the OP posted suggests that there are assignments saying "Sources must be published in the last 10 years".
– Ingo
7 hours ago
1
1
@Ingo Well, yes, but that link seems directed at undergraduate research assignments, and in in fact, that "last ten years" bit is prefaced with, "If it’s a requirement for your assignment..." For a doctoral dissertation, one is expected to cover the field.
– Bob Brown
7 hours ago
@Ingo Well, yes, but that link seems directed at undergraduate research assignments, and in in fact, that "last ten years" bit is prefaced with, "If it’s a requirement for your assignment..." For a doctoral dissertation, one is expected to cover the field.
– Bob Brown
7 hours ago
6
6
Something worth mentioning might be the difference between referencing research results, where you want to try and have relevant recent material, and referencing ideas, which might predate their use in actual research. For example, In my Master's thesis I referenced a pre-1900 paper by Karl Pearson for an idea he discussed that was important for my research, but then referenced modern research papers for my actual implementation. Another example might be natural selection; depending on the context, Darwin is an obvious reference.
– anjama
6 hours ago
Something worth mentioning might be the difference between referencing research results, where you want to try and have relevant recent material, and referencing ideas, which might predate their use in actual research. For example, In my Master's thesis I referenced a pre-1900 paper by Karl Pearson for an idea he discussed that was important for my research, but then referenced modern research papers for my actual implementation. Another example might be natural selection; depending on the context, Darwin is an obvious reference.
– anjama
6 hours ago
"If all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why, A few of mine were for material published in the same year as my own work." I'm finding this sentence hard to understand, when was your work published? When was the work citing these things published?
– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago
"If all of your references are "old," people are going to want to know why, A few of mine were for material published in the same year as my own work." I'm finding this sentence hard to understand, when was your work published? When was the work citing these things published?
– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
There is no rule about the age of citations. For example in my PhD-thesis I quoted some math-papers from 1600s that were originally written in latin (but those were exceptions).
Much more relavant than the year is the content of a citation and that you cover the relevant literature.
Also, you might want to include a few (relevant!) citations from recent years in order to show that you did your reading not just at the beginning of your thesis and then ignored everything afterwards.
answered 4 hours ago
lordylordy
63115
1
In math it is common to cite old papers. 1600s is indeed exceptionally old but it is not uncommon to cite 10-100 years old papers.
– Yanko
1 hour ago
I would say that it would be a bit unusual for a math paper to have most of its references under ten years old (unless the authors give only a very brief account of the context and there is only a handful of references in all).
– tomasz
30 mins ago
add a comment |
There is no rule about the age of citations. For example in my PhD-thesis I quoted some math-papers from 1600s that were originally written in latin (but those were exceptions).
Much more relavant than the year is the content of a citation and that you cover the relevant literature.
Also, you might want to include a few (relevant!) citations from recent years in order to show that you did your reading not just at the beginning of your thesis and then ignored everything afterwards.
answered 4 hours ago
lordylordy
63115
1
In math it is common to cite old papers. 1600s is indeed exceptionally old but it is not uncommon to cite 10-100 years old papers.
– Yanko
1 hour ago
I would say that it would be a bit unusual for a math paper to have most of its references under ten years old (unless the authors give only a very brief account of the context and there is only a handful of references in all).
– tomasz
30 mins ago
add a comment |
There is no rule about the age of citations. For example in my PhD-thesis I quoted some math-papers from 1600s that were originally written in latin (but those were exceptions).
Much more relavant than the year is the content of a citation and that you cover the relevant literature.
Also, you might want to include a few (relevant!) citations from recent years in order to show that you did your reading not just at the beginning of your thesis and then ignored everything afterwards.
answered 4 hours ago
lordylordy
63115
There is no rule about the age of citations. For example in my PhD-thesis I quoted some math-papers from 1600s that were originally written in latin (but those were exceptions).
Much more relavant than the year is the content of a citation and that you cover the relevant literature.
Also, you might want to include a few (relevant!) citations from recent years in order to show that you did your reading not just at the beginning of your thesis and then ignored everything afterwards.
answered 4 hours ago
lordylordy
63115
answered 4 hours ago
lordylordy
63115
answered 4 hours ago
lordylordy
63115
answered 4 hours ago
lordylordy
63115
63115
1
In math it is common to cite old papers. 1600s is indeed exceptionally old but it is not uncommon to cite 10-100 years old papers.
– Yanko
1 hour ago
I would say that it would be a bit unusual for a math paper to have most of its references under ten years old (unless the authors give only a very brief account of the context and there is only a handful of references in all).
– tomasz
30 mins ago
add a comment |
1
In math it is common to cite old papers. 1600s is indeed exceptionally old but it is not uncommon to cite 10-100 years old papers.
– Yanko
1 hour ago
I would say that it would be a bit unusual for a math paper to have most of its references under ten years old (unless the authors give only a very brief account of the context and there is only a handful of references in all).
– tomasz
30 mins ago
1
1
In math it is common to cite old papers. 1600s is indeed exceptionally old but it is not uncommon to cite 10-100 years old papers.
– Yanko
1 hour ago
In math it is common to cite old papers. 1600s is indeed exceptionally old but it is not uncommon to cite 10-100 years old papers.
– Yanko
1 hour ago
I would say that it would be a bit unusual for a math paper to have most of its references under ten years old (unless the authors give only a very brief account of the context and there is only a handful of references in all).
– tomasz
30 mins ago
I would say that it would be a bit unusual for a math paper to have most of its references under ten years old (unless the authors give only a very brief account of the context and there is only a handful of references in all).
– tomasz
30 mins ago
add a comment |
Muizz Mahdy is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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13
There is no "too old to cite". I've actually referenced some of Adolf Fick's and Einstein's original papers in my dissertation. (And they were such fun to read!) Also, that references need to have a certain age is nonsense. Where did you read this?
– Roland
9 hours ago
2
@Roland strictly speaking you are right: as written the OP states that a publication must be older than 2 years before you can cite it. However, given the content of the question I suspect that the OP intended to say that a publication must be younger than 2 years.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
1
No study is too old to cite, but not all studies "age well". Especially in fast paced discipline studies can easily be obsolete. However, this does not mean that all older studies in those disciplines become obsolete, just that many do. You can and should use those non-obsolete older ones.
– Maarten Buis
9 hours ago
2
If you are still allowed to reference Plato, that's more than 10 years...
– Solar Mike
8 hours ago
2
I notice the web page you cited says "A good rule of thumb is" and "is a good benchmark", which is a lot softer than your wording suggests, especially in trying to pin-point the exact suggested constraints. Also, the librarian's answer clearly seems to be designed for undergraduate research papers and projects, and a quick check shows the university serves almost entirely undergraduates. Finally, a look at the "Related FAQs" titles on the right side shows the kinds of things (allowing for a 40 year gap) covered in my required freshman English composition course.
– Dave L Renfro
7 hours ago