Citing

Importance of Citing

We believe that citing sources is important because it protects us from allegations of plagiarism by distinguishing which ideas are ours and which ideas were borrowed. Also, by showing that the ideas are credible it gives our posts credibility and allows the reader to continue research on the topic if interested.

- Safeguard for being accused of plagiarism 
- Show which ideas are ours and which are ideas of others
- Gives credibility to our writing
- Allows the readers to continue research on the topic if interested

How will we implement citing on our blog

We have decided to use hyperlinks in text to direct the readers to the source and throughout the posts we will be sure to use authors/scientists/sources names before or after any specific quotations or borrowed ideas.
Ex:
- The research of the article, titled “Zebra Mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are Effective Sentinels of Water Quality Irrespective of Their Size,” relies on previous scientific studies that have proven that zebra mussels are valuable indicators of concentration levels and viability of the pathogens Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and microsporidian because of their ability to concentrate the particles of the parasites.

Why we chose this

We chose to add the sources in the form of a hyperlink because it makes it easier for the audience to follow our sources. Since this is a blog which gives the readers access to the internet they are able to quickly access all the sources on their own if they are interested in continuing research on the topic. Given that our posts are based on only 1 or 2 sources, it seems to make sense to cite them in the beginning of the text and referencing them throughout the article, in text, so that it does not become too redundant since all of the information is being pulled from the same sources. We chose not to use formal MLA or APA citing because it will take away from the overall ease we are trying to create with the blog for our audience. The tradition citations will clutter the pages and creates extra work for the reader to have to search the source on their own.