Cite EM

How to cite Extended Matrix.

Extended Matrix grows version after version, and academic citations should reflect that. The foundation paper introduces the language and is always cited; each later release additionally contributes a flag paper that you cite when you rely on features it introduced.

The cumulative citation rule

  1. Always cite the foundation paper — the 2015 paper that introduced the formal language. Without it, the rest of the method is not properly anchored in the literature.
  2. Add the flag paper of the EM version you used. Each release that comes with a peer-reviewed paper extends the formal language; that paper is the canonical reference for what your project actually leveraged.
  3. Add the relevant tools / Zenodo software DOI when you used a specific component (EM Tools, Heriverse, 3DSC, s3dgraphy). These are software citations and complement — not replace — the methodological citations above.

Versions 1.0–1.3 are not separately downloadable today. Their flag papers are still relevant because the features they introduced live on inside the latest EM core. The current LTS line (1.4) does not yet have a dedicated flag paper — until one appears, cite the 1.0 foundation paper plus the 1.2 Five Steps Method paper (Demetrescu & Ferdani, 2021) as the methodological reference for projects authored under 1.4 LTS.

Which paper should I cite?

Pick the row that best matches your situation. Every row starts from the foundation paper; everything else is added on top. The full catalogue — theses, application papers, version-flag references — lives on the Publications page.

If you… Cite this combination
are using EM at all (any version, any tool) Foundation paper (Demetrescu, 2015) — see below.
used a specific EM version (1.2, 1.3, 1.5, …) Foundation paper + the flag paper of that version.
used EM with the EM Tools / EMviq / Heriverse stack Foundation paper + the matching flag paper + the Zenodo software DOI of the component you used.
are writing about EM as a method (no specific version) Foundation paper + the 1.2 Five Steps Method paper (Demetrescu & Ferdani, 2021) — the most widely-cited methodological reference.
need worked examples of EM-based projects Browse the Applications section — case studies by other teams that used EM in their own work.
are looking for student theses using EM Browse the Theses section on the Publications page.
1 · Foundation paper (always cite)

Demetrescu, E. (2015). Archaeological stratigraphy as a formal language for virtual reconstruction. Theory and practice. . Journal of Archaeological Science, 57, 42–55.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2015.02.004

BibTeX 
{foundation.bibtex}

2 · Flag papers per EM version

Cite the entry corresponding to the EM version you used. If you crossed multiple versions, cite the latest you actually relied on.

  • EM 1.2 DOI: 10.3390/app11115206

    Demetrescu, E., Ferdani, D. (2021). From Field Archaeology to Virtual Reconstruction: A Five Steps Method Using the Extended Matrix . Applied Sciences, 11(11), 5206.

    Canonical reference for the EM 1.2 line. Introduces the Five Steps Method that formalises the reconstructive workflow — the methodological backbone reused by every subsequent EM release.

    Open paper ↗ EM 1.2 release page →
    BibTeX 
    {vp.paper.bibtex}
  • EM 1.5 · LTS DOI: pending

    Canonical 1.5 reference: TBD — pending publication.

    No flag paper has been published for the 1.5 LTS line yet. Until a dedicated reference appears, cite the 1.0 foundation paper plus the 1.2 Five Steps Method paper (Demetrescu & Ferdani, 2021) as the methodological reference for projects authored under 1.5 LTS.

    EM 1.5 release page →
  • EM 1.4 · LTS DOI: pending

    Canonical 1.4 reference: TBD — pending publication.

    No flag paper has been published for the 1.4 LTS line yet. Until a dedicated reference appears, cite the 1.0 foundation paper plus the 1.2 Five Steps Method paper (Demetrescu & Ferdani, 2021) as the methodological reference for projects authored under 1.4 LTS.

    EM 1.4 release page →

3 · Software citation (Zenodo DOIs)

Cite the software components only when you actually used them (e.g., EM Tools for the Blender pipeline, Heriverse for the web publication). Software citations complement — not replace — the method citations above. 

{`@misc{demetrescu_extendedmatrix,
  title     = {Extended Matrix},
  author    = {Demetrescu, Emanuel},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.5957132},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5957132}
}`}

Each component (EM Tools, Heriverse, 3DSC, s3dgraphy) has its own Zenodo DOI on the Extended Matrix Zenodo community. Pick the version DOI matching what you actually used.

See also

  • All publications — the full catalogue: foundation paper, version-flag papers, theses, application papers and software references, browsable by category.
  • Language documentation — the canonical reference for the formal language, its glossary and the full bibliography.
  • EM versions — full release matrix with flag papers per version.
  • Zenodo community — software DOIs, datasets, paradata bundles.