Citations for Blogs

By Jlwiebe on Sat, 09/21/2019 - 10:24

Forums

I have a blog and I would like to cite sources on it. While I understand that one would cite sources the same way as if it were a paper, I'm wondering what kinds of issues the change in medium creates. For example, if I provide a link to another website, do I need to cite the link, if I haven't used any information or quotes from that website in my blog post? Any searches I do for blog citations only shows me how to cite a blog, so more information on this topic would be appreciated.

Best,

Jennifer 

Submitted byEEon Sun, 09/22/2019 - 14:30
Jennifer, when you say "Do I need to cite the link?" I assume you mean "Do I need to cite what my reader will find at that link?" The short answer is usually "no." The fuller answer is "It depends." Recognizing the fragility and shelf-life of URLs, if the linked source is one we want to permanently identify--and we want to ensure that readers of our blog won't be frustrated a year later by a dead link--then it's logical to create a footnote that cites the source.

Submitted byJlwiebeon Mon, 09/23/2019 - 07:27

Thank you! That is an important point - it has happened to me many times that clicking on a link hits a dead end. However, when there are more details about what was supposed to be on the page I can search for it and sometimes find it again.