
The sherpa module contains an experimental citation() function which
will return the citation information for the latest release or a given
release:

   >>> import sherpa
   >>> sherpa.citation()
   >>> sherpa.citation('4.16.1')

The output can be saved to a file by setting the filename argument.

This will only work if you have internet access (at least for the
latest query) as it takes the data from the Sherpa record at
Zenodo: https://zenodo.org/record/3944985

The Zenodo guide to versioning at https://help.zenodo.org/#versioning
provides advice on how to cite the correct version.

If you want a general-purpose citation then please use either of the
following, kindly provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System
service:

@ARTICLE{2024arXiv240910400S,
       author = {{Siemiginowska}, Aneta and {Burke}, Douglas and {G{\"u}nther}, Hans Moritz and {Lee}, Nicholas P. and {McLaughlin}, Warren and {Principe}, David A. and {Cheer}, Harlan and {Fruscione}, Antonella and {Laurino}, Omar and {McDowell}, Jonathan and {Terrell}, Marie},
        title = "{Sherpa: An Open Source Python Fitting Package}",
      journal = {arXiv e-prints},
     keywords = {Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena},
         year = 2024,
        month = sep,
          eid = {arXiv:2409.10400},
        pages = {arXiv:2409.10400},
          doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2409.10400},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
       eprint = {2409.10400},
 primaryClass = {astro-ph.IM},
       adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024arXiv240910400S},
      adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System}
}

@INPROCEEDINGS{2001SPIE.4477...76F,
       author = {{Freeman}, Peter and {Doe}, Stephen and {Siemiginowska}, Aneta},
        title = "{Sherpa: a mission-independent data analysis application}",
     keywords = {Astrophysics},
    booktitle = {Astronomical Data Analysis},
         year = 2001,
       editor = {{Starck}, Jean-Luc and {Murtagh}, Fionn D.},
       series = {Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series},
       volume = {4477},
        month = nov,
        pages = {76-87},
          doi = {10.1117/12.447161},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
       eprint = {astro-ph/0108426},
 primaryClass = {astro-ph},
       adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001SPIE.4477...76F},
      adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System}
}

@INPROCEEDINGS{2007ASPC..376..543D,
   author = {{Doe}, S. and {Nguyen}, D. and {Stawarz}, C. and {Refsdal}, B. and
	{Siemiginowska}, A. and {Burke}, D. and {Evans}, I. and {Evans}, J. and
	{McDowell}, J. and {Houck}, J. and {Nowak}, M.},
    title = "{Developing Sherpa with Python}",
booktitle = {Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XVI},
     year = 2007,
   series = {Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series},
   volume = 376,
   editor = {{Shaw}, R.~A. and {Hill}, F. and {Bell}, D.~J.},
    month = oct,
    pages = {543},
   adsurl = {https://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007ASPC..376..543D},
  adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System}
}
