As e-mails come to me, I will try to put my common answers up here to frequently asked questions, and I will label each post so they can be easily searched as the blog grows!
Question #1: Citing Outside Sources
Would you like sources for my facts or do you trust that
I'm not plagiarizing?
Answer /Explanation:
Yes, you should be (get?) in the habit of citing sources
every time you include facts or knowledge from an outside, published source.
To be clear, if the facts are not from a study you've done yourself but from something you've read, and you don't cite those sources as coming from such and such person/place, then it would be plagiarism.
Plus, anybody who isn't naive and reading your work would look at your "facts"
and say, "Where they hell did these stats come from?"
Even if you're not sure of proper citation, it's better to attempt to credit sources
rather than leave readers in mystery.
Unless it is "common knowledge" and you are generalizing on common knowledge . . . but this is perhaps something to discuss in class earlier in the semester than usual.
Two good rules I follow when considering citation of source material:
1) If I have to ask I probably have to do it!
2) If I know where the fact/idea came from, I should give credit to that source.
Also: in defining "facts" let's put ideas, theories, concepts, etc. under the same rule.
