Writers' Treasure Academic Writing,Magnetic Writing,Web Writing How to cite sources in content writing

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.

2 thoughts on “How to cite sources in content writing”

  1. Hi Julia,

    Thank you for such an insightful article on citations. I am going to bookmark this for future references. Till now I have depended on professional writers like these https://essaypro.com/custom-essay-writers.html to help me complete papers without any errors. I have to agree that these were the only ones that have delivered articles exactly as per my requirements.

    But now that I have your article to refer to I think I will give it a try myself.

  2. Hola! I am writing a classification essay, and I am wondering how many sources I have to use. My professor didn’t say a word about this, so I am just wondering. Does the number of references depend on the topic? If so, my topic is “Political Debates” (I got it from here: https://pro-papers.com/blog/classification-essay-topics), and the essay has to be of 4-5 pages. Will 5 sources be enough?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Four key strategies for developing a business mindset as a writerFour key strategies for developing a business mindset as a writer

This is a guest article by Indiana Lee. If you want to submit a guest article of your own, be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

Making real money as a writer requires you to become more entrepreneurial-minded. It’s a business mindset that will inspire you to develop additional skills, like marketing and managing business finances. It will help you establish a professional image that resonates with your ideal clients. 

More importantly, you can’t grow your writing business without an entrepreneurial mindset. Develop one with these four strategies. 

(more…)

6 ways for beginners to start in freelance writing6 ways for beginners to start in freelance writing

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

Well, this is a writer’s dream come true, pet subject, etc etc, is it not? This, after all, is what we writers love and are paid to do, this is our livelihood, and we are now teaching others how to follow in our footsteps. Sweet deal? Oh yes.

Writing is not tough, for any one, contrary to what you will be made to believe at certain points. That is so because every person has something to write about, everybody has a story.

You might be thinking, so how is that going to help me write paid articles about say, investing in the stock market? I say, practice. Write more, and then every topic will see the words pouring out of you naturally.

And need I say about how profitable freelance writing is? You are paid and well, you can work from the convenience of your home, and thanks to the diversity of assignment topics, work is never boring. What more could a lover of words ask for, right?

Read on to find how exactly you can break into this mode of earning your living.

(more…)

Tips and tricks to write effectively for web readers – Web Writing 101Tips and tricks to write effectively for web readers – Web Writing 101

You know that web writing is a lot different from print writing.

It’s because web readers are different from print readers.

Why is that, though? What makes web readers different?

Is it because they skim content before reading it (and many times they never read the full content)? Is it because they read headlines first to determine whether the content is any good? Is it because their attention spans are shorter than ever? Or is it a combination of all three?

If you said the last option, congratulations: you’re right.

The fact is: if you want your web writing to be effective web writing, you need to ensure that it follows all the correct requirements which web readers love. But what are they, anyway? Let’s see!
(more…)