Put Source and Update Dates Beside Every Data Table
A practical format for showing a lacrosse table’s source, coverage period, source-check date, update date and statistical scope.
A published lacrosse table should tell the reader where its figures came from and how current they are without requiring a hunt through footnotes. Put a short metadata block immediately above or below the table—not only in the article introduction or site footer.
A useful line looks like this:
Source: NCAA men’s lacrosse championship records · Data through: 2026 season · Source checked: September 22, 2026 · Table updated: September 22, 2026 Scope: NCAA championship results only; regular-season games and non-NCAA titles excluded.
The source, coverage and dates sit together, but each label answers a different question.
Do not reduce every date to “last updated”
| Label | What it means | When to change it |
|---|---|---|
| Source date | The publication or revision date displayed by the source | When a newer source edition is used |
| Data through | The latest season, game or competition represented in the table | When new results are added |
| Source checked | The last date the cited source was reviewed | Whenever that source is checked again |
| Table updated | The last substantive change to the published table | When values, coverage, definitions or structure change |
These dates can differ. A table edited today might still end with the 2025 season. Saying only “updated today” could make that coverage appear more current than it is.
This separation also fits established dataset practice. DataCite defines a dataset’s publication year as the year it was made publicly available and recommends more detailed date metadata for dynamic data with multiple releases in one year (DataCite PublicationYear guidance). For a published record table, the practical equivalent is to distinguish release or revision activity from the period represented by the data.
Link the exact source, not merely the organization
“Source: NCAA” is too broad. Identify and link the record book, results page, statistics database or league table actually used.
The NCAA’s official men’s lacrosse statistics and records page links current rankings, team-by-season statistics, individual and team records, championship records and past brackets separately. Those resources answer different questions. A championship-results table should not cite the rankings page as though the two were interchangeable.
The same precision matters for a competition table. World Lacrosse’s official 2026 women’s championship statistics displays player fields including goals, attempts and shooting percentage. A table copied or derived from a changing competition page should identify the last game or competition date included. An access date establishes when the page was viewed, not which matches the resulting table covers.
When several official files support one table, list them compactly by role:
Sources: NCAA Division I, II and III championship records; school names and scores cross-checked against the corresponding championship-results files.
For a large ledger such as NCAA lacrosse champions by division and year, keep the source-and-date line beside the table, then put the full list of record books in a short methodology note. Readers should not have to inspect hundreds of rows to discover that separate files support different divisions or categories.
Handle undated and changing sources honestly
If an official page or PDF has no visible publication or revision date, do not infer one from a URL, search result or local file property. Use:
Source edition: Undated · Source checked: September 22, 2026
If the source is reviewed again but the published data remains unchanged, advance source checked, not table updated. If a correction changes a score, player total or standing, advance the table date and add a brief correction note.
For a recurring table such as NLL team standings by season, keep season coverage separate from the revision date. Otherwise, correcting a historical row could be mistaken for adding a newly completed season.
A publication-ready format
Use full, unambiguous dates and keep the labels visible near the data:
Sources: Official NCAA championship record books and results · Coverage: 1971–2026 · Source checked: September 22, 2026 · Table updated: September 22, 2026 Scope: NCAA-sponsored championships, separated by division and gender. Historical corrections are noted below the table.
The article’s publication date can remain in the byline area. It is not a substitute for the source, coverage and revision dates attached to the table itself.