Basic principles for creating references. ISO 690

1. The information included in a reference should be sufficient to clearly identify the material being cited.

2. The creator of the reference should determine the appropriate level of specificity at which the reference is made (e.g. to an entire document or to a specific part of a document) based on the purposes of the citation and the use that was made of the material being cited.

3. The data included in a reference should, whenever possible, be taken from the information resource being cited.

4. The data recorded in the reference should reflect the specific copy or instance of the document that was used. For online documents that are subject to change, such data include the network location of the particular version that was used and the date on which the document was accessed.

5. A uniform style, format and punctuation scheme shall be used for all references in a document, regardless of the particular style guide being used.