Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

55Cite as You Write

Z. Craig and Paul Kimmel

Proper citation is rooted in respect for other people's work and it allows your readers to refer to the original source of your information if they so wish. Think of it as a giant thank you to the people who said something before you did, or helped advance your thinking on an issue.

Seek out primary, not secondary sources. A primary source is an original research project, or the originator of an idea or statement. A secondary source quotes the original source.

Citing the original source is maybe a big duh. But I'm always surprised by how often companies link to a secondary source (merely another site or writer who's sharing an article) instead of the original. The credibility you gain is worth the extra click or two to track down the primary source.

Quoting or linking to primary sources isn't just good ethics, it's likely your information will be more accurate, too, since it hasn't been inadvertently reinterpreted. Generally, the more recent the research, the more appealing it is. Try to avoid anything older than four years, since it's likely to be stale. In some fast-evolving industries—mobile or social media, say—avoid anything more than two years old.

Wikipedia is not a credible source—even according to Wikipedia itself.¹ But it's great for anecdotal or background information, and it can be a handy place to find links to other sources, including original ones.

How does citation apply to content creators?

As an example, if you use ...