Citing QT Docs
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Hey,
Im not sure, if this question belongs here. I want to cite the Qt docs in my thesis, for example https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qgradient.html. Who should I mention as the author of the docs? The Qt Company? The Qt Company Ltd. ? Anyone else? Im a bit confused about who wrote the docs. In latex world, would a bibtex entry like this be enough:
@online{qgradient,
title = {{QGradient Class}},
author = {{The Qt Company}},
url = {https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qgradient.html},
urldate = {2021-03-13},
year = {2021}
}Thanks in advanced.
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@Thomas-Stein said in Citing QT Docs:
Im a bit confused about who wrote the docs.
This is a bit tricky.
Often (but not always), the person who wrote the code also wrote the original documentation. However, other people could come along at a later time to improve the documentation
Im looking at the sourcecode of qimage.cpp. If I scroll down I can see the docs, but there is nothing about an author being mentioned, just the copyright header at the top for "The Qt Company Ltd."
Documentation and source code are often written in the same file.
Usually, copyright in the file is listed against the "main" contributor to that file. However, if a "secondary" contributor puts enough substantial work into a file, they might add their own name to the copyright list (e.g. https://github.com/qt/qtbase/blob/dev/src/corelib/thread/qreadwritelock_p.h )
Unfortunately, there is no hard-and-fast rule on this. A major contributor might decide not to (or forget to) list themselves as a copyright holder.
Am I safe to cite just "The Qt Company Ltd. " here as the author?
I think so. However, if you can clearly identify an individual who wrote the section that you're citing (e.g. by using
git blame), citing them directly might be better.I suggest talking to your supervisor to see if your university has guidelines on citing works that received input from a wide range of community members. (The answer to "How do I cite a page in the Qt documentation?" might be similar to the answer to "How do I cite a Wikipedia article?")
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Hi,
It's usually a concerted work between the class author who may not work for the Qt Company, reviewers who may or may not work for the Qt Company and the documentation team of the Qt Company.
So you should check the copyright header of the class to see who is concerned.
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@SGaist Hey and thanks for the reply. But im still a bit confused. Im looking at the sourcecode of qimage.cpp. If I scroll down I can see the docs, but there is nothing about an author being mentioned, just the copyright header at the top for "The Qt Company Ltd." and also 95 contributors to that class.
Am I safe to cite just "The Qt Company Ltd. " here as the author?
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The best thing to do is to look at when the file was added, it is usually there that you have the authors. In the case of QImage, it was even Trolltech at the time of creation. The current owner is indeed the Qt Company for that class.
I know it's a bit complex since the documentation may be improved by people outside the Qt Company in significance ways. There might be a formula for including more people.
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@Thomas-Stein said in Citing QT Docs:
Im a bit confused about who wrote the docs.
This is a bit tricky.
Often (but not always), the person who wrote the code also wrote the original documentation. However, other people could come along at a later time to improve the documentation
Im looking at the sourcecode of qimage.cpp. If I scroll down I can see the docs, but there is nothing about an author being mentioned, just the copyright header at the top for "The Qt Company Ltd."
Documentation and source code are often written in the same file.
Usually, copyright in the file is listed against the "main" contributor to that file. However, if a "secondary" contributor puts enough substantial work into a file, they might add their own name to the copyright list (e.g. https://github.com/qt/qtbase/blob/dev/src/corelib/thread/qreadwritelock_p.h )
Unfortunately, there is no hard-and-fast rule on this. A major contributor might decide not to (or forget to) list themselves as a copyright holder.
Am I safe to cite just "The Qt Company Ltd. " here as the author?
I think so. However, if you can clearly identify an individual who wrote the section that you're citing (e.g. by using
git blame), citing them directly might be better.I suggest talking to your supervisor to see if your university has guidelines on citing works that received input from a wide range of community members. (The answer to "How do I cite a page in the Qt documentation?" might be similar to the answer to "How do I cite a Wikipedia article?")
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