Good quality content is the one that has citations in it. You must know that there is always a chance that the content you create can be accused of plagiarism without citations. Here, you will learn all about citations and how they can help you save yourself from the accusations of plagiarism even if you are using the same ideas or even words as another writer. If you don’t know why citations and references are important, you need to read this post.
Table of Contents
What is the citation?
Citation is the best way to tell your readers that the content you have created is based on ideas or materials you have borrowed from another source. There are different kinds of citations that can show your authenticity. You can choose from different styles of citations, including APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. The most commonly used citation is modern language association which the humanities group usually practices.
Top reasons why citation is important in writing good content
Here we have collected some reasons to help you understand the importance of citation in writing.
Adding citations can assist in fact-checking
When writing content, you have to make sure that all of the information you have added to the content is accurate. Accuracy is very important in writing, especially if you are jotting about science and technology. When you add citations and attributions to the source of content, you give readers a way to verify the information you have presented in the post. Verifying the sources is the best way to confirm accuracy. So one of the reasons why citation is important in writing is because it serves as a fact-checking tool.
Citation helps you become a better writer
If you want to be a good content writer, you must know that research is very important. Furthermore, you should ensure that your content is clear and concise. Now articles written without research and ideation would always have wordiness and sloppy phrases in them. Citation can help you write better content because you have to do proper research to provide attributions to the original author. As you spend more time researching, the more information you would have to present in your draft. So with the citation, you can make your content more informative instead of wordy.
Citations can help you build your credibility as a writer
As a writer, you should know that credibility is everything. If you are creating content that has plagiarism in it, it will badly affect your credibility. If you are not trusted as a writer, then there is no way that readers would trust the content you create. Citation helps you build credibility by showing your hard work and honest intentions. When you add attributes to the original author of content or ideas, then you are simply establishing a strong position.
Citation helps you avoid plagiarism accusations
If you are using ideas or words that belong to another writer, you are directly committing plagiarism. You must know it is unethical and illegal in major parts of the world. If you add citations and proper attributes to the original author, you would not be accused of stealing content because you are already telling that you have borrowed ideas and based your content on the facts and figures established by another author.
Does Citation Prevent Plagiarism?
Citing sources that you have borrowed from another source prevents plagiarism in your writing because you are showing that the original ideas belong to another writer. If you don’t cite or provide attributes, the ideas, information, or content you have produced are your creation, even if you have copied it. This is considered direct stealing of content which has severe consequences. This is why expert writers always recommend that you cite every word you have borrowed. You don’t have to add citations to the information that you have paraphrased.
Can You Check Plagiarism in Content Even After a Citation?
The simple answer to this question is YES. Adding citation doesn’t mean that plagiarism cannot be detected in the content; rather, it would be ignored. If you want to check plagiarism in your content after citation, you use a plagiarism checker.
A copyright checker is the best solution that can help you check your work for duplication of all sorts. First of all access the tool: https://www.plagiarismchecker.co/, now you have to add the text or the document file in the plagiarism scanner and press the check plagiarism button. The plagiarism tool would scan your content and compare it with billions of web pages in seconds. Know that a plagiarism checker can also help you find out whether your citations are correct or not. This is a very important use of plagiarism checkers.