INFORMS References

jlhillho
I am using INFORMS (Institution for Operations Research and Management Sciences) citation style and when I cite in Word, the URLs do not show up. Specifically, I am trying to cite a thesis (type: Thesis) and tried putting the URL in the URL field and DOI field to see if either would show up when citing in Word, but no luck. I have made sure the box 'Include URLs of paper articles in references' was checked, but that still did not work.

Is there a fix for this so that I can use INFORMS with Zotero and Word?
  • adamsmith
    The style is coded to include URLs only for webpages. Do we have some sort of documentation of how a thesis with URL should look?
  • LaurentWest
    The INFORMS style in Zotero does not always output URLs for thesis entries. Check the style settings and make sure the thesis has the URL saved in the URL field, then refresh the Word document. If the URL still does not appear, the CSL style likely needs editing to include URLs for thesis references.
  • damnation
    That was said already. (And "Check the style settings and make sure the thesis has the URL saved in the URL field..." does not apply here)

    We can only implement something in a style if the documentation (or published papers) show a certain behaviour. That's the question that needs answering.
  • jlhillho
    I looked for examples in published INFORMS articles as well. I haven't been able to find a thesis/dissertation reference that includes a URL.

    Recent INFORMS publications appear to format these consistently without one, for example:

    Duvenaud D (2014) Automatic model construction with Gaussian processes. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

    Dunn JW (2018) Optimal trees for prediction and prescription. PhD thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.

    Guo F (2023) Essays on political economics. PhD thesis, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.

    There is also older INFORMS documentation from Interfaces that gives an unpublished dissertation example without a URL, although those instructions separately state, “For all URLs, include the date that you referenced the material.”

    What makes this less clear is the current INFORMS Reference Style & Citation Examples guidance. It says that references should “include DOI or persistent-link information where available” and “provide sufficient information to allow readers to identify and retrieve cited materials.”

    So there seems to be general documentation supporting the inclusion of a persistent link when available, but I have not found an INFORMS example showing specifically how that should be implemented for a thesis/dissertation. The published thesis references I found omit the URL.

    I appreciate you taking the time to look into this. I completely understand if the lack of a thesis-specific example or clearer documentation from INFORMS means there isn't enough evidence to justify changing the CSL style.
  • adamsmith
    Thanks! Given this, I'd be inclined to add DOI links more broadly but not URLs. Do you have a link to the current guidance? Do they have other examples with DOIs in citation?
  • jlhillho
    Here is the current INFORMS guidance: https://pubsonline.informs.org/authorportal/reference-style-and-citation-examples

    They do provide an example with a DOI in citation under 'Article Published Online Ahead of Print':

    Lu SF, Rui H (2017) Can we trust online physician ratings? Evidence from cardiac surgeons in Florida. Management Sci., ePub ahead of print June 13, https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2741.

    And URL examples under Newspapers, Magazines & Online Media:

    Morrison M (2003) Herb Kelleher on the record, part 3. Bus. Week Online (December 23), http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2003-12-23/herb-kelleher-on-the-record-part-3.

    As well as under Websites & Online Resources:

    Federation of American Scientists. Resolution comparison: Reading license plates and headlines. Accessed March 29, 2006, http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/resolve5.htm.

    Open Source Initiative (2006) The open source definition. Retrieved March 29, http://www.opensource.org/.
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