What rules should be followed when citing manuscripts or unpublished materials?

When citing manuscripts or unpublished materials (e.g., preprints, theses, conference posters, personal communications, raw datasets), it is feasible but requires adherence to specific ethical and practical rules distinct from citing formally published work. Key principles include first obtaining explicit permission from the author(s) or copyright holder before citation. Always clearly contextualize the source's status (e.g., "unpublished manuscript," "data on file," "unpublished raw data") and provide as much verifiable information as possible within the chosen citation style, such as the author(s), title, year, institution/department holding the material, or a persistent identifier (e.g., DOI, preprint server URL). Crucially, acknowledge the preliminary, non-peer-reviewed nature of such sources and their inherent limitations regarding accessibility and verification; readers should not be misled into treating them with the same weight as peer-reviewed publications. Over-reliance on unpublished sources should generally be avoided in establishing core arguments. The primary application lies in providing necessary transparency for methodologies or claims derived from unique, non-public data or preliminary findings encountered via communication or access grants. Adhering to these rules upholds scholarly integrity by properly crediting originators, preventing misrepresentation of evidence, and enabling potential future verification paths where feasible, while accurately reflecting the source's provisional contribution to the research narrative.