How to Cite This Project

🧾 This guide explains how to create and maintain a CITATION.cff file and how to generate a DOI for your project using Zenodo.

Providing a clear citation file helps others give you credit for your work β€” and it only takes a few minutes to set up.

πŸ“„ What is CITATION.cff?

  • A CITATION.cff file lives in the root of your GitHub repository.

  • It tells others how to cite your project (e.g. in papers, presentations, or other software).

  • GitHub automatically detects this file and shows a β€œCite this repository” button in the sidebar.

πŸ“š CFF Format Documentation

✍️ Example CITATION.cff

cff-version: 1.2.0
title: Template Project for Research Code
authors:
  - family-names: Frajka-Williams
    given-names: Eleanor
    orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-XXXX-XXXX
    affiliation: University of Hamburg
version: 0.1.0
date-released: 2024-06-01
license: MIT
url: https://github.com/eleanorfrajka/template-project
message: "If you use this template in your own work, please cite it using the metadata above."

πŸ’‘ Keep your CITATION.cff updated with new versions and release dates when you publish.

🌐 Linking to a DOI with Zenodo

Zenodo is a service that archives GitHub releases and issues a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for your project.

🧭 Steps to Register with Zenodo:

  1. Log in at zenodo.org using your GitHub account.

  2. Go to GitHub Linked Accounts

  3. Enable Zenodo archiving for your repository.

  4. Push a new GitHub release tag (e.g. v0.1.0).

  5. Zenodo will archive the release and issue a DOI.

You can then add that DOI back into your CITATION.cff like this:

doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1234567

πŸ“š Zenodo GitHub Integration Guide

🧩 Best Practices

  • Always include a CITATION.cff in published repositories.

  • Keep version and date-released in sync with your actual GitHub tags.

  • Use ORCID and affiliation fields to improve citation metadata.

  • If you create a Zenodo DOI, display it in the README badge or footer.

βœ… Adding a CITATION.cff is a simple but powerful step toward making your code citable and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).