Actually, this is more of a recommended practice than a tip... . While conducting various web searches today, I came across a magazine issue that featured special coverage of the European migration debate. Since I was in the midst of preparing a post on Europe, I took a closer look to see if it was recently published. I dutifully checked the cover - but no date. I checked the publication information on p. 5 - again, no date. I looked in all the obvious places, but as far as I can tell, the magazine provides no indication of when it was published. I finally went to the web site, located the relevant page that posted the issue, and learned that it came out in June 2012.I don't mean to single out this one magazine. I constantly come across working papers, reports, web pages and other resources that don't include dates on them. And it's certainly not a new phenomenon, since all style guides include instructions for how to cite materials when no publication date is provided. But since I focus on "current awareness," dates are generally the first thing I look for, and it's frustrating when they are nowhere to be found!
So a plea to all authors/publishers: Please put dates on your content, preferably in an obvious place! Your readers/users will appreciate it!
Tagged Tips.
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