Citations: a helpful necessity

Citations are more than a way to avoid plagiarism, they allow writers to share their thought processes with readers. The audience is given a road map of the author’s journey from research to conjecture. If the reader brings forth questions or wishes to look further into a particular idea, citations give them the ability to seek answers.

Since citing sources is extremely important, our blogging group has decided that setting up a standard for citations for our blog is crucial. We have decided that we will cite our sources in our text in a way that is similar to the MLA format. This is done with parenthetical acknowledgements within the text and a works cited list at the bottom of the post. Image and video citations will have a website listed at the bottom of the post.

Example for Basic MLA Citation

However, the new photo chemical solar cell utilizes the cheap and available chemical Titanium Dioxide. If used as the electron absorber in solar panels, this cell could reduce the already declining cost of the sun’s power (“The Photo Chemical Cell” 1).

“The Photo Chemical Cell – Mimicking Nature.” Clean Energy Investment Blog. 12 May 2010.
http://www.alternative-energy-guide.com/articles/sun/photo-chemical-solar-cell.htm.
Image: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/04/stateoftheart_m.php

We feel that this method of citing will give readers quick access to our sources. Since you typically first check the bottom of the article for sources, this is the best location for our citations. The parenthetical documentation within each article will allow readers to know which ideas came from where, giving them a clearer picture of where the author found specific information.