How to cite sources in content writing

This is a guest article by Julia Morison. If you are interested in submitting a guest article of your own, be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

In the quest to making content look legitimate and reliable, we add quotations of experts. In the process, we often end up annoying them. Let me elaborate it further.

When we begin to write an article, we often look for relevant links, quotes, ideas and thoughts of renowned scholars and experts to add. However, what we do wrong is that we do not give them the credit; we simply mention their names at the end of the extracted quote. Such activities discourage many professionals to share their views online.

What you must do is, cite the complete reference along with the link to the site from where you have copied that particular piece of information.

To learn more about proper citation and referencing, check out the different scenarios I have mentioned below:

Citation scenario #1:

If you want to copy the quote, idea or thought of a person, do not go directly copy pasting it on your blog. Instead, mention the name, website link or links to social media sites as well. Try to make the act a mutually benefiting one rather throwing an impression that you were attempting to steal the content.

Moreover, it is against internet etiquettes too. When a person copy-paste a quote without proper referencing his document will be recognized as a plagiarized work, and it will lose credibility. Therefore, you should make your work authentic and trustworthy.

Citation scenario #2:

When you are composing a research-based document and wanted to add data extracted from surveys or polls, figures and facts from reputable sites, you must hyperlink the site as well.

Many writers simply mention the survey and add the information; this weakens the authenticity of their blog. If you truly want to uplift the credibility of your content, always mention the link of the site from where you have extracted the information. It will help your audience to navigate to that site for learning about the subject in detail.

Citation scenario #3:

It is simple to create references for information taken out from general articles or sites.

However, if you read about information on a subject from a website which was not the same as the source of the information, you have to add a link to the site from where you have extracted the information. A simple way to do this is by adding a ‘Via’ link to the website, in addition to a ‘Source’ link to the original source of the information.

Final words

It is imperative to cite sources to make your content trustworthy.

However, there are many formats involved in the citation, which are difficult to grasp and are time-consuming too. Every category has its own formats, whether it is to cite Twitter or articles on websites. You have to follow a distinctive set of rules for the different formats.

However, some professionals suggest writers use IEEE citation generator for creating references and citations. It is said to be one of the most efficient and highly productive tools for making fast citation, and when used properly, it can transform your document into a 100% plagiarism-free one.

Author Bio: Julia Morison is a head hunter and a research specialist at US-Based Writing Firm. She is a traveller, a blogger, a techie and a social activist. When she not in her office, she spends her time writing and educating the masses. Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.