Essential elements of information

You must include the right information in your reference to allow your reader to locate the same source. To help you do this, we have identified all the possible 'pieces' of information that could be used to cite virtually any Statistics Canada product or service. These 'essential elements' of information are presented below in alphabetical order. Each bullet in the "Description" section of each essential element is one possible meaning, which is usually clear from the type of product or service being cited.

Use the links in the list below to find descriptions of what they cover and tips for presenting them in Statistics Canada's style in your reference. Use the Publications search engine to furnish missing information for your reference.

Author

Description:

  • Individual(s), corporation(s), institution(s) and/or government department(s) responsible for the content of the first-mentioned title. Generally 'Statistics Canada.'
  • Source of a private communication. Generally an individual.
  • Host organization of a conference or workshop.
  • Host of a web page.

Statistics Canada style:

Author is always the first element in a citation.

Invert first and last names of the first-mentioned author only if it is an individual. Do not invert second and subsequent names. Separate second-last and last individual or corporate authors with 'and.' Do not put a comma before 'and.' Separate three or more authors with commas.

End the Author element with a period.

Catalogue

Description:

  • Statistics Canada catalogue number.

Not all Statistics Canada products have catalogue numbers. When they do, the catalogue number must be included.

Statistics Canada style:

Use this format:

Statistics Canada Catalogue no. xxxx.

End the Catalogue element with a period.

Computer file

Description:

  • Title of computer file, cartographic boundary file, data file, master file, public-use microdata file or its subsets, synthetic file, etc.

Statistics Canada style:

Title case; italics.

Add a descriptor in parentheses—'(computer file),' '(master file),' '(public-use microdata file),' etc.—after a title that does not identify the type of file.

Before the GIS element, use this format: Using Name of File (computer file).

More than one may be listed. If two or more, change to '(computer files).'

Separate three or more files in list by commas, with 'and' and no comma before 'and,' or with semicolons (including before 'and') if there are internal commas.

End Computer file element with a period.

Credentials

Description:

  • Description of the source of a personal communication.

Gives the position or rank title, the organization or group the person represents, and any other information that will establish the source as relevant and credible.

Statistics Canada style:

Place this information in parentheses after the Means element.

Include the person's position title; unit, section, division, branch or field title where applicable; and title of organization represented.

Separate components of this element with commas.

Use title case on formal job titles.

Use this format:

(Position Title, [Title of Section of Organization,] Title of Organization.)

End Credentials element with a period inside the final parenthesis.

Database

Description:

  • Name of database.

Statistics Canada style:

Title case; no quotation marks or italics.

Follow the name of a database with the descriptor '(database).'

End Database element with a period.

Date

Description:

  • Date of a private communication (oral, written or visual).
  • Date or date range of a conference or workshop.

Statistics Canada style:

The year when the communication or conference occurred is placed in the Year element and is not repeated here.

Use these formats:

July.
July 5.
July 5–7. [en dash, not hyphen and not 'to']

End Date element with a period.

Distributor

Description:

  • Name of an extraction system or distributor of database or data.

Statistics Canada style:

Title case; no quotation marks or italics.

Suppress this element when the distributor is 'Statistics Canada.'

Use this format:

Using Name of Distributor (distributor).

End Distributor element with a period.

Edition

Description:

Indicates issue, publication date, edition or revised edition details.

  • Issue: volume and/or number for articles in periodicals
  • Publication date details (month and often day): for The Daily and some series, where there is no 'issue' information
  • Edition: edition of books
  • Revision: revised edition of books

This information does not apply in all cases; for example, not all books have a revision or new edition.

Statistics Canada style:

For publication date details, the year is not repeated if already mentioned as year of publication.

Use these formats:

Issue: Vol. 5, no. 4. / No. 24. / Vol. 5.
Publication date details: July 28.
Edition: 5th edition.
Revision: Revised edition.

End Edition element with a period.

Editor

Description:

  • Name(s) of editor(s), translator(s), compiler(s), etc.

This information does not apply in all cases.

Statistics Canada style:

First and last names not inverted here.

Not included in the author position for Statistics Canada products.

Follow name(s) with descriptor as follows:

Editor(s): (ed.). (eds.).
Translator(s): (transl.). (transls.).
Compiler(s): (compil.). (compils.).

End Editor element with a period.

GIS (geographic information system)

Description:

  • Various types of geographic information system (GIS) software used to create a map, such as ArcGIS and ArcINFO.

Statistics Canada style:

Title case; no quotation marks or italics.

Use this format:

Using ArcGIS.

End GIS element with a period.

Means

Description:

  • How the information being cited was communicated during a private communication: interview, private conversation, informal discussion, e-mail, letter, memorandum, diagram, photograph, PowerPoint presentation, schematic, text message, etc.

Statistics Canada style:

Sentence case.

Use this format: Memorandum.

End Means element with a period.

Notes

Description:

  • Information not covered in other elements: descriptions, clarifications, specifications, suggestions for researchers, technical details, map scale, table software (Beyond 20/20, MS Excel, etc.), supplementary materials (such as a CD or user guide), other sources of the product, etc.

Statistics Canada style:

These should be the last item in any reference. Place them after the URL and periodicity elements.

End Note element with a period.

Pages

Description:

Page information for first-mentioned title. Applies to PDF and print but not to HTML.

  • Page number indicates a single page within a larger document.
  • Page range indicates a multipaged document within another document.
  • Number of pages is used for a complete publication that is not part of another document.
  • Number of slides in a slide presentation.

Statistics Canada style:

Use these formats:

Page number: p. 10.
Page range: p. 10–25. [en dash, not hyphen and not 'to']
Number of pages: 16 p.
Number of slides: 20 slides.

End Pages element with a period.

Periodicity

Description:

Decennial, quinquennial, monthly, quarterly, annual, occasional, etc.

  • Frequency and regularity of publication for periodicals and series. Periodicals are published regularly and series occasionally (irregularly).
  • Frequency of surveys.

Statistics Canada style:

Place at the end of the reference, just before the Notes element.

End Periodicity element with a period.

Place

Description:

  • Place of publication of last-mentioned title.
  • Location of a conference or workshop.

Can take these forms:

City + province/state
City + province/state + country
City + country

Place is generally 'Ottawa, Ontario' for Statistics Canada products and conferences.

Place of publication is not included in all cases: it is not generally included with periodicals, databases or products without catalogue numbers.

Statistics Canada style:

The recommended style is city + province/state for Canada and the United States and city + country for other countries.

End Place element with a period.

Producer

Description:

  • Name of data centre, library, institution, government department, etc. that collects and compiles a dataset.
  • Name of the producer of a database or map or of data.

Statistics Canada style:

Title case; no quotation marks or italics.

Use descriptor '(producer)' after the name. The producer is generally 'Statistics Canada.'

Suppress this element if the producer and the author are both Statistics Canada.

End Producer element with a period.

Publisher

Description:

  • Publisher of last-mentioned title.

Publisher can be

Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada + other organization(s)
Other organization(s)

Statistics Canada style:

Title case; no italics.

When Statistics Canada is clearly the only publisher and is mentioned elsewhere in the reference (i.e., as the author and/or in the catalogue number), the Publisher element is suppressed to avoid repetition of 'Statistics Canada.'

End Publisher element with a period.

Reference

Description:

  • Reference period to which survey data apply, i.e., the period of time about which respondents gave information. This is not the same as the collection period, the publication date or the release date.

Statistics Canada style:

Use 'to' or 'and' in ranges, not a hyphen or dash.

Use these formats:

End Reference element with a period.

Release

Description:

  • Date of official release of a Statistics Canada product through The Daily.

Statistics Canada style:

To avoid repetition, the year of release is suppressed if the same as the year of publication. Do not use 'Released' or 'Release date' or 'Date of release.'

Use these formats:

July 28. [if year of release is the same as the year element]
July 28, 2006. [if year of release is not the same as the year element]

End Release element with a period.

Series

Description:

  • Name of series in which monographs, studies, technical papers and other occasional publications are published.

Often includes the number within the series of the individual publication (which is identified by Title 3A in the citation).

Statistics Canada style:

Title case; no quotation marks or italics.

Use this format to cite an individual publication within a series:

Series Title, no. X.

End Series element with a period.

Special

Description:

  • Indicates that a product is a custom or special tabulation, which has been developed by Statistics Canada to meet specific clients' needs and specifications and is not publicly available.

Statistics Canada style:

Sentence case.

The first part, 'Special tabluation,' ends in a comma. It is always followed by 'based on' with no punctuation after it and then the Database or Title 3C element.

Use this format:

Special tabulation, based on [Name of Database or Survey].

End Special element with no punctuation before the name of the database or survey, as shown above.

Title 1

Description:

  • Title of a table, figure, graph, chart, map, etc. (i.e., a non-text document) that is part of another document.

Statistics Canada style:

Sentence case, regardless of capitalization of original; double quotation marks; keep internal punctuation of original.

Follow with descriptor in parentheses: '(map),' '(table),' '(graph),' etc.

Must be followed by Title 3A or Database.

Title 2A is optional between Title 1 and Title 3A.

For census products, if the name of the census ('2001 Census,' '2006 Census,' etc.) is not part of the title, add it as a separate element after the last-mentioned title. Do not put it in italics.

End Title 1 element with a period. Place closing quotation marks after the period.

Title 2

Description:

  • 2A   Title of article, chapter, section, etc. (i.e., a text document) that is part of another document.
  • 2B   Title of a secondary web page, i.e., one that is a component of another web page.
  • 2C   Title of a section or part (e.g., individual report, presentation or abstract) of a conference or workshop, or title of a section or part of the proceedings of a conference or workshop.

Statistics Canada style:

Sentence case, regardless of capitalization of original; double quotation marks; keep internal punctuation of original.

2A, 2B and 2C may all be preceded by Title 1.

2A must be followed by Title 3A.

2B must be followed by Title 4A.

2C must be followed by Title 4B.

End all Title 2 elements with a period, followed by closing quotation marks.

Title 3

Description:

  • 3A   Title of a stand-alone (independent) text document (journal, book, study, monograph, technical paper, lesson plan, manual, conference proceedings, etc.), which is not part of another document.
  • 3B   Title of a stand-alone (independent) non-text document (table, graph, map, etc.), which is not part of another document.
  • 3C   Title of a survey, statistical program or questionnaire.

Statistics Canada style:

Title case, regardless of capitalization of original; no quotation marks; keep internal punctuation of original.

3A titles may be preceded by Title 1 and/or Title 2A.

All 3A and 3B titles are presented in italics.

Follow 3B titles with descriptor in parentheses: '(map),' '(table),' '(graph),' etc.

3C titles are not presented in italics.

If the name of the census ('2001 Census,' '2006 Census of Agriculture,' etc.) is not part of a 3A or 3B title that refers to a census product, add it as a separate element after the last-mentioned title. Do not put it in italics.

End all Title 3 elements with a period.

Title 4

Description:

  • 4A   Title of a primary web page or a module on a website.
  • 4B   Title of a conference or workshop.

Statistics Canada style:

Title case, regardless of capitalization of original; italics.

4A may be preceded by Title 2B. Different levels of secondary web pages making up a primary web page are all shown as Title 2B, in ascending order.

4B may be preceded by Title 3A or 3B, which in turn may be preceded by Title 1 and/or Title 2C.

End all Title 4 elements with a period.

Update

Description:

  • Date of update or modification of version cited. Unless otherwise stated, this always refers to the first-mentioned title.

Statistics Canada style:

Update information is presented in different ways on the Statistics Canada website. For consistency in a bibliography or reference list, choose one phrase, such as 'Version updated,' 'Last updated,' 'Last modified' or 'Version modified,' and use it in all references that require the Update element.

Note: If 'Version updated' or a similar phrase is not added, this element could be confused with the Release element.

Use these formats for the date following the phrase:

July 28. [if year of update is the same as the Year element]
July 28, 2006. [if year of update is not the same as the Year element]

End Update element with a period.

URL

Description:

  • Website pathway to last-mentioned title.

Statistics Canada style:

Always include full access date: month, day and year (e.g., June 15, 2009).

Include 'http://' with the URL.

Start the URL on a new line, with the access information following it in parentheses.

Use the shortest possible URL that will point users to the version used.

End URL element with '(accessed + complete date)' followed by a period.

Year

Description:

  • Year of publication, creation or presentation of first-mentioned title.
  • Year when oral, written or visual private communication was received.

Statistics Canada style:

Use these formats:

1988. [Used for year of publication of data and documents, year of creation of maps and geospatial files, year of presenting conferences and workshops and year of receiving oral, written or visual private communication]

No date. / n.d. [Used for data products that are updated from time to time; in these cases, the date of update or modification (the update element) should be included in the reference. Also used for dynamic tables such as CANSIM and for web references with no discernible date]

1988–. [Used for databases, series and sets of periodicals that began publication in the year shown and continue to the present]

1988–2000. [Used for databases, series and sets of periodicals that began publication in the first year shown and stopped publishing in the second year shown]

For year ranges here, do not use 'to'; use an en dash: Alt + 0150 or Ctrl + Alt + minus sign from the number pad.

End Year element with a period.

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