Citing Data From IASSIST 2017 With Confidence

The IASSIST 2017 conference website preserves material from “Data in the Middle: The Common Language of Research”, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence from 23–26 May 2017. Its archived programme includes plenary sessions, presentations, practical information and discussions of big data, deep learning, digital agriculture and global food security. For a researcher, that makes the site more than a historical event page: it can be a source for conference papers, presentation slides, datasets discussed during sessions and evidence about research data practice in 2017.

A reliable reference begins by identifying the exact item you used. A conference homepage, a PDF slide deck, a session description and a data collection are different sources, even when they sit within the same archive. Australian students, librarians and research staff may need to adapt the final format to APA 7, Chicago, Harvard or a university-specific guide, while preserving the same core facts: creator, year, title, event, publisher or host, format, stable location and access information where relevant.

Identify what you are actually citing

Start by recording the source while you are using it. Note the author or organisation, the publication or presentation date, the full title, the session name, the conference name, the University of Kansas location and the precise page or file address. Also record whether the item is a webpage, presentation, video, abstract, programme entry or dataset. This basic source log prevents a common error: citing the whole conference when your argument relies on one presenter’s slides.

The term “data from IASSIST 2017” can refer to several different things. You might be citing numerical or visual data displayed in a presentation, a statement made by a plenary speaker, the conference schedule as evidence of research priorities, or the archived site’s practical information. If the underlying dataset was created by another institution, cite that dataset as the principal source and cite the IASSIST presentation as a related explanation. A slide deck is not automatically the dataset behind its charts.

Look for a named author before using the conference organisation as the author. A presentation may list one researcher, several presenters or an institutional team. When no personal author appears, use the responsible organisation, such as an organising committee or university unit, if the page clearly identifies one. If neither is available, begin with the title rather than inventing a person’s name. Do not treat a session chair, commentator or conference host as the author unless the source assigns that role.

Australian universities often have strict rules about source quality and traceability. A tutor at Monash, the University of Queensland or the University of Sydney may accept an archived conference source when it directly supports the claim, but may expect a peer-reviewed publication or original dataset for a substantial research finding. In a thesis or grant report, explain the source’s role rather than presenting an informal conference page as if it were a refereed journal article.

Build the core reference

A useful data citation contains enough information for another person to identify and retrieve the same material. For an item from the conference archive, the core sequence is usually creator, year, title, item type, conference or website name, host organisation, URL and retrieval date when the content may change or lacks a clear publication date. The exact punctuation depends on the required style, but the factual building blocks remain stable.

For a presentation, a general template might look like this:

Surname, Initial. (2017). Title of presentation [Conference presentation]. IASSIST 2017: Data in the Middle: The Common Language of Research, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS. URL

If the presentation is available as a PDF, replace “[Conference presentation]” with “[PowerPoint slides]” or “[PDF presentation]” where your style guide permits that level of specificity. If the archive identifies a date more precise than the year, include it in the style’s preferred format. The conference dates alone do not prove that every presentation took place on every day, so use the session date when it is recorded.

For an archived webpage, use a different structure:

IASSIST 2017 Organising Committee. (2017). Title of webpage. IASSIST 2017 conference website. URL

If the page has no publication date, use “n.d.” in styles that require it, then add a retrieval date if the rules call for one. The page title should match the source exactly, including capitalisation where the chosen style retains it. A retrieval date is especially useful for web pages whose content can be edited, although a clearly preserved conference archive is generally more stable than a live news page.

Do not add a DOI, publisher or page range merely to make the entry look complete. An archived conference website may have no DOI and may not function as formal published proceedings. Likewise, do not cite the home page when the evidence came from a specific session page. The more narrowly your reference matches the material consulted, the easier it is for a reader in Perth, Canberra or regional New South Wales to check your interpretation.

Cite presentations, datasets and visual evidence

When a slide contains a graph, map or table, distinguish the presenter’s interpretation from the original data. Cite the presentation in the sentence where you discuss the speaker’s analysis. If the slide names an external dataset, follow that trail and cite the dataset as well. A practical in-text formulation might be: “The presentation linked research data infrastructure with agricultural decision-making (Surname, 2017).” If the presenter is an organisation, use the organisation’s name in place of the surname.

A dataset reference should identify the creator, release year, dataset title, version, repository or publisher and persistent identifier. A generic model is:

Creator, A. A. (2017). Title of dataset (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Repository. DOI or persistent URL

The year should normally be the dataset’s release or publication year, not the year of the conference talk. If a 2017 presentation discusses a dataset released in 2015, retain 2015 for the dataset reference and use 2017 for the presentation. Version information matters because data can be corrected, expanded or reprocessed. Where no version is stated, do not create one.

For a figure reproduced from a presentation, cite the source in the figure note as well as in the reference list. If you modified the graphic, say “Adapted from” rather than implying that you created the original. If you transcribed values from a slide, preserve the original unit, scale and date range. A chart about global food security may combine several sources, and citing only the conference presentation could conceal the provenance of the underlying observations.

This distinction is particularly important for Australian research workflows. A project lodged through an institutional repository or listed in Research Data Australia may have a catalogue record separate from the conference presentation that promoted it. Australian research offices also increasingly expect clear data management, licensing and attribution information. If a presenter refers to Indigenous data, community-held knowledge or culturally sensitive material, a citation should not be treated as permission to reuse it; follow the stated access conditions and relevant Indigenous data governance requirements.

Use the archive as a historical source

The website’s status as an archive affects how you describe it. The conference occurred in 2017, so the year of the event belongs in the citation even if you accessed the page in 2025 or later. An access date records when you consulted the material; it does not replace the event or publication year. This distinction helps readers understand the historical setting of research discussions about deep learning, big data and digital agriculture.

Preserve the original title and event details, including the University of Kansas and Lawrence, Kansas, where the item is a conference presentation. If your referencing style abbreviates locations, follow that guide consistently. Do not convert the event into an Australian conference simply because your assignment is being submitted in Australia. Use Australian spelling in your surrounding prose—“organisation”, “programme” if appropriate to your institution—but reproduce a source title accurately.

The practical pages can be cited when they support a factual statement about attendance arrangements, check-in, transport or local recommendations. For example, the archived guidance on transport details is a suitable source for describing how delegates were expected to travel around Lawrence during the event. It should not be used as evidence about present-day public transport in Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide, because local services, fares and routes change.

An archived page may contain broken links, missing files or undated updates. Save a permitted copy of the PDF, note the access date and retain a screenshot or catalogue record if your institution’s research policy allows it. If the original URL redirects or a file is no longer available, use the surviving archive address and make the loss of the original clear in your notes. A citation should reflect what you actually saw, not what you assume the page once contained.

Match the style to your assignment

APA 7 is common in Australian education, health, psychology and social science courses. It generally places the year close to the author and uses bracketed descriptions for unusual formats. Chicago author–date is also suitable for research reports, while Chicago notes and bibliography may place the source in a footnote. Harvard varies between institutions, so the guide from your university library should take precedence over a generic online example.

The following comparison shows the information that normally changes between styles. The sample uses placeholders because the archive may contain different authors, titles and file types. Replace each bracketed element with the details displayed on the particular IASSIST 2017 page or presentation you consulted.

Referencing style	In-text or note form	Reference-list pattern
APA 7	(Surname, 2017)	Surname, A. A. (2017). Title of presentation [Conference presentation]. IASSIST 2017, University of Kansas. URL
Chicago author–date	(Surname 2017)	Surname, First name. 2017. “Title of Presentation.” Conference presentation at IASSIST 2017, University of Kansas. URL.
Chicago notes and bibliography	1. First name Surname, “Title of Presentation,” conference presentation, IASSIST 2017, University of Kansas, 2017, URL.	Surname, First name. “Title of Presentation.” Conference presentation, IASSIST 2017, University of Kansas, 2017. URL.
Harvard	(Surname 2017)	Surname, Initial. 2017, ‘Title of presentation’, conference presentation, IASSIST 2017, University of Kansas, viewed Day Month Year, URL.
MLA 9	(Surname) or (“Short Title”)	Surname, First Name. “Title of Presentation.” IASSIST 2017, University of Kansas, 2017. Presentation. URL.

Check whether your institution requires a retrieval date for archived webpages. The Australian Style Manual and university library guides can differ in small matters such as capitalisation, brackets and the treatment of undated material. Those differences do not alter the essential task: identify the correct creator, distinguish the format and show the exact location of the source.

A strong reference also supports ethical and practical scholarship. Give credit to presenters, data creators and repositories separately when their contributions differ. Include a licence or access statement when the source provides one. If the material informed a method rather than a factual claim, say so in the surrounding text. That level of precision is useful in an Australian workplace as well as at university, whether the report is being read by a research librarian in Hobart, a data steward in Brisbane or a policy team in Canberra.