Should bloggers cite sources in their posts similar to journalists citing their sources when writing a magazine article or students writing research papers? As a blogger I try to cite, as best as I can, sources of information. Sometimes, because I’m lazy or careless or both, I fail to do so. Because there really isn’t a proper procedure to “blog” there seems to exist a laissez-faire attitude (myself included) when blogging.
On a daily basis, I read blogs on personal development (e.g., motivation, happiness, productivity, etc.) that oftentimes do not cite any sources of information. Either a tremendous amount of information flows out of the writers’ thought processes or there is and has been a failure to follow proper citation rules.
Perhaps my skeptical attitude rears its ugly head because even my graduate psychology professors with PhD’s defer to and cite outside sources of information. I find it baffling that so many bloggers have so much to say and in such a detailed manner with no citations.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you blog on a particular or specialized topic such as personal development.
Do you think bloggers should provide citations (MLA, APA) when they blog? If so, why or why not?
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:49 am
I’m not so certain that they should follow a “formal” citation method such as MLA or APA but they should be linking or showing where they are getting their information from - out of simply honesty. I have felt a bit guilty that I’m not giving enough credit when I post. Perhaps, as the web, blogging and similar interactions mature a formal method will develop specifically for the blogger.
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:00 pm
That’s a good point. While I don’t necessarily endorse any type of formal citation, unless citing academic works, I do agree with you that bloggers should link or show where they get their information from. I also wonder, as blogging, academics, and journalism intersect, that there will be some sort of movement towards an informal citation or linking system.
December 25th, 2007 at 12:43 am
Linking to the article or blog should do.
The truly interested will definitely follow the link and we help to popularise the orginal content.
December 25th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Ottayan: Yes, providing a link to the original article or blog gives credit to the original author(s). As I mentioned in the previous comment, I’m not endorsing a formal system just a way to credit the original author(s).
December 26th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
I find it wonderfully refreshing that you have brought this subject up. Whenever I am including information that I received from a source, I make every effort to cite it, even if it is cumbersome. It’s an interesting subject to be sure, one I need to think about more and more.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Bamboo: Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your comments. It’s great to hear that bloggers such as yourself make an effort to cite sources. I think that’s something that we all need to be more mindful of.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:39 am
My blog is something of a personal development blog, and I try to cite sources whenever possible, especially when dealing with posts the quote a lot of numbers. In all honesty, though, it’s not my highest priority: I think one of the benefits of the casual nature of blogging is the ability to make posts that don’t look like graduate theses.
As far as my blog goes, many of the posts are “sourced” from my own thoughts and experiences. If its not something I’ve done or experienced myself, it’s often something I’ve learned from watching others and have simply not yet integrated into my own life.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I think you said it very well Adam. Blogs are not graduate papers or theses and, in my opinion, shouldn’t be subjected to the citation requirements as those in academia. I do believe that many blogs on personal development do share from their own experiences and knowledge.
I guess I’m just wondering that somewhere along the way, they have read/learned from some written works (i.e., book, magazine article, etc.) and have incorporated or referred to these sources significantly in their blogs. If this is the case, I would hope that they credit where it’s coming from.
Like you, citing sources isn’t on my top priority list especially when it’s something that may be common sense or general knowledge. Thanks again for sharing your insights Adam. I really appreciate your feedback.
December 27th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I think if bloggers don’t cite their offline resources, especially books, then they’re missing out on an opportunity to share something special with their readers. I know when I read a book that I find thoughtful, I like to let my readers know about it, so they can seek the book out and find it for themselves. I’m particularly interested in seeing their own thoughts on the source, because they may have learned something from it that I missed.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Thanks Adam. I think that failing to cite sources like books deprive readers of an opportunity to explore more for themselves.
December 29th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
very interesting point. i often think about it. of course, most written material does not cite sources. for example, i think of a novel like ken follett’s “the pillars of the earth”, which required tons of research - and you won’t find any of it in the book.
i personally love to cite lots of things in my blog, partly because of my academic “upbringing”, partly because that’s what the internet is all about. however, that often means a lot of research, checking out link quality, etc. and people don’t often follow the links.
so it’s a many-edged sword.
December 29th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Excellent point Isabella. For example, in locating photos used on this blog and attaching just the names and citing their locations alone took me about 2 hours.
It was time-consuming for two reasons: One, I’m not well-versed in writing html codes, so there was alot of copying & pasting. Two, surfing the web and precisely locating the photos and linking to them is very tedious.
Thus, whether it’s a photo, an article, or a citation to a book there’s no doubt - crediting the source is time-consuming.
January 7th, 2008 at 6:07 am
I think it’s good behavior to inform reader if there is some things that could need some background information to understand better (so to avoid misunderstanding). Sometimes I also find it distracting that traditional media don’t many times tell their sources and that’s kind of weird thing to do since isn’t the point of media to tell about subjects and backgrounds of the stories. Of course, there is aspect of privacy of sources (if they are people) but when writing about something other than people, it’s kind of bad not to know where information is from (unless it’s original research/writing).
Anyways, regarding blogs I think it’s good to tell where the information is from (if you still remember) but sometimes people don’t remember where some info did come to their head.
Whatever, blogs are mostly about conversation and for conversation, it’s better to know about what we are talking about so people can make good opinions about it instead of having to guess about reliability of writing.
January 7th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Thanks Daniel. Yes, I too, have noticed that sometimes traditional media fails to cite their sources. It seems that if we pull from sources to write a story or explain some steps that it’s “good behavior” to credit that source.
Your point is well taken. Blogs are about conversations and it is important to be knowledgeable about our topics. And as a few have already mentioned, the hope is that bloggers give proper credit, when credit is due.