diff --git a/WrightTools/CITATION b/WrightTools/CITATION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d78d71d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/WrightTools/CITATION
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+@misc{WrightTools,
+  author =       {Blaise J. Thompson and Kyle F. Sunden and Darien J. Morrow and Nathan Andrew
+                  Neff-Mallon and Kyle J. Czech and Daniel D. Kohler and Tom Parker and Rachel
+                  Swedin},
+  doi =          {10.5281/zenodo.1198904},
+  title =        {WrightTools},
+}
+
diff --git a/WrightTools/__citation__.py b/WrightTools/__citation__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8ff1c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/WrightTools/__citation__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+"""Define WrightTools citation."""
+
+import pathlib
+
+__all__ = ["__citation__"]
+
+here = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent
+
+with here / "CITATION" as f:
+    # remove extra whitespace
+    __citation__ = " ".join(f.read_text().split())
diff --git a/WrightTools/__init__.py b/WrightTools/__init__.py
index 9973485..e561ca0 100644
--- a/WrightTools/__init__.py
+++ b/WrightTools/__init__.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import sys as _sys
 
+from .__citation__ import *
 from .__version__ import *
 from .__wt5_version__ import *
 from . import artists
diff --git a/docs/publications.rst b/docs/publications.rst
index 8eae2be..c40ee7d 100644
--- a/docs/publications.rst
+++ b/docs/publications.rst
@@ -1,7 +1,33 @@
 .. _publications:
 
+Citing WrightTools
+==================
+
+When publishing research which used WrightTools, please provide credit to WrightTools
+developers through citation or acknowledgement.
+
+.. image:: https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.1198904.svg
+   :target: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1198904
+
+BibTex citation:
+
+::
+
+  @misc{WrightTools,
+    author =       {Blaise J. Thompson and Kyle F. Sunden and Darien J. Morrow and Nathan Andrew
+                    Neff-Mallon and Kyle J. Czech and Daniel D. Kohler and Tom Parker and Rachel
+                    Swedin},
+    doi =          {10.5281/zenodo.1198904},
+    title =        {WrightTools},
+  }
+
+Also see ``WrightTools.__citation__``.
+
+In addition to the main WrightTools citation, each released version of WrightTools has its own
+DOI through zenodo. Refer there to cite a particular version: `<https://zenodo.org/record/1198904>`_.
+
 Publications
-============
+------------
 
 The following publications were enabled, to some extent, by WrightTools.
 The authors of these publications have volunteered to appear on this page.

citation convention
We should have a clear way to cite WrightTools. Will this be done once it is published in the initial paper?
diff --git a/tests/citation.py b/tests/citation.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f92306f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/citation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+"""Test citation."""
+
+import WrightTools as wt
+
+
+def test_existence():
+    assert wt.__citation__

pip install -e .[dev]
parse_log_pytest
requirements.txt
pytest pytest-cov
apt-get update apt-get install -y gcc libfreetype6-dev hdf5-tools libhdf5-dev libopenblas-dev
3.9
requirements.txt
pytest --no-header -rA --tb=line --color=no -p no:cacheprovider -W ignore::DeprecationWarning
black==25.1.0
cfgv==3.4.0
click==8.1.8
contourpy==1.3.0
coverage==7.8.0
cycler==0.12.1
distlib==0.3.9
exceptiongroup==1.2.2
filelock==3.18.0
fonttools==4.56.0
h5py==3.13.0
identify==2.6.9
imageio==2.37.0
importlib_resources==6.5.2
iniconfig==2.1.0
kiwisolver==1.4.7
matplotlib==3.9.4
mypy-extensions==1.0.0
nodeenv==1.9.1
numexpr==2.10.2
numpy==2.0.2
packaging==24.2
pathspec==0.12.1
pillow==11.1.0
platformdirs==4.3.7
pluggy==1.5.0
pre_commit==4.2.0
pydocstyle==6.3.0
pyparsing==3.2.3
pytest==8.3.5
pytest-cov==6.0.0
python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
pytz==2025.2
PyYAML==6.0.2
scipy==1.13.1
six==1.17.0
snowballstemmer==2.2.0
swebench_matterhorn @ file:///swebench_matterhorn
tidy_headers==1.0.4
tomli==2.2.1
typing_extensions==4.13.0
virtualenv==20.29.3
-e git+https://github.com/wright-group/WrightTools.git@39d23edfffe4b323d94777873911ab69d4aaa705#egg=WrightTools
zipp==3.21.0

name: WrightTools
channels:
  - defaults
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r
  - conda-forge
dependencies:
  - _libgcc_mutex=0.1=main
  - _openmp_mutex=5.1=1_gnu
  - ca-certificates=2025.2.25=h06a4308_0
  - ld_impl_linux-64=2.40=h12ee557_0
  - libffi=3.4.4=h6a678d5_1
  - libgcc-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libgomp=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libstdcxx-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - ncurses=6.4=h6a678d5_0
  - openssl=3.0.16=h5eee18b_0
  - pip=25.0=py39h06a4308_0
  - python=3.9.21=he870216_1
  - readline=8.2=h5eee18b_0
  - setuptools=75.8.0=py39h06a4308_0
  - sqlite=3.45.3=h5eee18b_0
  - tk=8.6.14=h39e8969_0
  - tzdata=2025a=h04d1e81_0
  - wheel=0.45.1=py39h06a4308_0
  - xz=5.6.4=h5eee18b_1
  - zlib=1.2.13=h5eee18b_1
  - pip:
      - black==25.1.0
      - cfgv==3.4.0
      - click==8.1.8
      - contourpy==1.3.0
      - coverage==7.8.0
      - cycler==0.12.1
      - distlib==0.3.9
      - exceptiongroup==1.2.2
      - filelock==3.18.0
      - fonttools==4.56.0
      - h5py==3.13.0
      - identify==2.6.9
      - imageio==2.37.0
      - importlib-resources==6.5.2
      - iniconfig==2.1.0
      - kiwisolver==1.4.7
      - matplotlib==3.9.4
      - mypy-extensions==1.0.0
      - nodeenv==1.9.1
      - numexpr==2.10.2
      - numpy==2.0.2
      - packaging==24.2
      - pathspec==0.12.1
      - pillow==11.1.0
      - platformdirs==4.3.7
      - pluggy==1.5.0
      - pre-commit==4.2.0
      - pydocstyle==6.3.0
      - pyparsing==3.2.3
      - pytest==8.3.5
      - pytest-cov==6.0.0
      - python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
      - pytz==2025.2
      - pyyaml==6.0.2
      - scipy==1.13.1
      - six==1.17.0
      - snowballstemmer==2.2.0
      - swebench-matterhorn==0.0.0
      - tidy-headers==1.0.4
      - tomli==2.2.1
      - typing-extensions==4.13.0
      - virtualenv==20.29.3
      - zipp==3.21.0
prefix: /opt/conda/envs/WrightTools

tests/citation.py::test_existence
WrightTools/__citation__.py WrightTools/__init__.py WrightTools/CITATION docs/publications.rst
WrightTools/__citation__.py WrightTools/__init__.py WrightTools/CITATION docs/publications.rst