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Is it even possible to cite a google survey (designed by yourself) in an original paper? [via docs.google.com]

Any explanations would be thanked!

Regards.

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    Can you please explain why or how you would want to cite an inherently transient thing like an online survey?
    – jakebeal
    May 4, 2015 at 15:15
  • @jakebeal: Sorry what do you mean by inherently transient?
    – Ak9
    May 4, 2015 at 15:20
  • An online survey form is not an archival publication, nor a long-term community maintained resource. There is no reason to expect it will still exist in any meaningful manner in 5 years.
    – jakebeal
    May 4, 2015 at 15:29
  • @jakebeal: yes right; and what can I do if no institution would cooperate to publish the survey, and I need the results to be seen by the academic society?
    – Ak9
    May 4, 2015 at 15:34

1 Answer 1

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If you designed the survey and this is the first paper in which you discuss the results, then you don't need to cite it you need to present it as original research with all the detail that requires. The fact that it's a google survey doesn't seem especially important, but you can probably find a good review article on methodological considerations for Web based surveys.

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    Thanks Tim, Something that makes me worry is the fact that google surveys seem to be editable by the survey owner. What do you think?
    – Ak9
    May 4, 2015 at 15:19
  • @AmirHosseinKiani and isn't that owner you? The fact that the owner of a paper survey could lie about which questions were asked has never stopped is from using those. Research ethics applies as usual.
    – Tim
    May 4, 2015 at 15:21
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    yes that owner is me. I'm just curious on how/why should the reviewers trust the statistical results of my survey! How do they know that I've not changed the result by myself?
    – Ak9
    May 4, 2015 at 15:27
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    @AmirHosseinKiani they don't know as such that you haven't changed the results, but my point is that the same is true of all surveys (and nearly all empirical research). Academia is built on trust augmented with skepticism. If you report something outlandish, it won't make it through peer review. If you report something interesting but fabricated, it will eventually catch someone's eye for a replication. None of this is specific to Google surveys, but a good methodology paper might have some advice nevertheless.
    – Tim
    May 4, 2015 at 15:50
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    Thanks a lot Tim! I'll look for some methodology papers.
    – Ak9
    May 4, 2015 at 15:54

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