By Dong Danping, Librarian, Research Services
The problem of ‘Link Rot’
From time to time, researchers may cite website links in their academic publications. Some of those links become broken over time - when those online sources disappear or their location changes, resulting in a problem called ‘link rot’.
Link rot affects the integrity of citations in academic works. It is found in over 50% of cited links in Supreme Court opinions, 70% of cited links in academic legal journals and 20% of STEM articles according to related research.
How to solve this problem?
The solution to link rot is perma links, which are reliable and permanent links to time-stamped preserved records of any website. Instead of citing the actual URL, academics can cite a perma link which points to the preserved web page at the time of citing, which will never change or disappear.
Perma.cc, a web archiving service developed and maintained by Harvard Law School Library since 2013, is now supported by SMU Libraries.
To archive a web page, you just need to enter its URL address and click on “Create Perma Link”. A perma link that looks like this https://perma.cc/4Q3S-Q5U6 will be generated.
Citing with Perma.cc links
You are encouraged to cite both the original URL and preserved perma links, as seen in the example below.
Charles P. Pierce, This Cannot Be the Way Occupy Ends, ESQUIRE: POL. BLOG (Nov 17, 2011), http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/occupy-wall-street-violence-6575448, archived at https://perma.cc/48VC-ZS62
* An example from Harvard Law School Guide
Activate your Perma.cc account
Using perma.cc is simple but personal accounts are limited to 10 free links. With SMU Libraries supporting the service, you will be able to create unlimited links under SMU. Join other SMU colleagues who are already using the service by registering for an account. Remember to email us, so that we can activate the privileges for you!
Reference
Fabrizio Van Marciano. (2013). Error 404 [image]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/vanmarcianoart/8732774358/in/photolist-eixEs8-eiFKz9-eiyuGP-eiDzCb-eixZ12-eiD9xs
