# Citing p5.js (academic)?

**URL:** <https://discourse.processing.org/t/citing-p5-js-academic/4877>\
**Category:** Project Guidance\
**Created:** [October 25, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/citing-p5-js-academic/4877 "2018-10-25T17:15:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![j6m8](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/j6m8/32/2096_2.png) [@j6m8](https://discourse.processing.org/u/j6m8)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/citing-p5-js-academic/4877/1 "2018-10-25T17:15:36Z")

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I would like to cite p5.js in an upcoming publication and am not sure where to point; currently we’re just pointing to the homepage ([https://p5js.org/](https://p5js.org/)) but if there’s a specific document you like us to reference, I’d prefer to do that!

I read through [Selling Finished projects](https://discourse.processing.org/t/selling-finished-projects/3238) but it doesn’t appear that there is clear guidance aside from general attribution.

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**Author:** ![jeremydouglass](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/jeremydouglass/32/20_2.png) [@jeremydouglass](https://discourse.processing.org/u/jeremydouglass)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/citing-p5-js-academic/4877/2 "2018-10-28T17:35:35Z")

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What field are you publishing in? Is this computer science, media art, art history…?

You could cite it as software, or you could cite one of the p5js books or articles:

[https://p5js.org/books/](https://p5js.org/books/)

[https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=p5js](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=p5js)

You could also contact an author and ask – @lmccart

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**Author:** ![j6m8](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/j6m8/32/2096_2.png) [@j6m8](https://discourse.processing.org/u/j6m8)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/citing-p5-js-academic/4877/3 "2018-10-29T13:43:54Z")

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This will be in computer science; I’ll plan to cite as software / reference the website; thank you! Wanted to confirm this was the best option before continuing.

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**Author:** ![Kevin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/kevin/32/2297_2.png) [@Kevin](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Kevin)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/citing-p5-js-academic/4877/4 "2018-10-29T23:31:27Z")

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The license P5.js is released under specifically says that you don’t **have** to cite anything.

It would still be nice to do though, and I’m pretty sure Jeremy is correct: just cite it as you would any other website, unless you’re referencing something more specific.

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**Author:** ![lmccart](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/lmccart/32/12_2.png) [@lmccart](https://discourse.processing.org/u/lmccart)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/citing-p5-js-academic/4877/5 "2018-11-05T14:57:30Z")

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Thanks all, this is correct. If there’s a book or talk or video you’re getting info from directly you can cite those. Otherwise the homepage is a reasonable link to point to.