How To Find And Cite Primary Sources
Most online writers do not have a journalism background. In college, I majored in Entrepreneurship, and my career roots in nonprofit work. However, no matter our background, all writers can improve our content by following a major journalism principle: cite your sources. Citing sources isn’t as simple as linking to the first Google result you find and calling it a day — not all sources are created equally. Writing online requires learning how to vet your sources and only use high-quality, verifiable information. After all, you don’t want to be responsible for unintentionally spreading misinformation, do you? When I’m not writing online, I’m usually creating strategic plans for nonprofit clients. The first section of every plan includes a detailed evaluation of the social issues the organization confronts. This section requires detailed research with copious statistics. While writing the problem statement, I typically cite 10 or more primary sources. Each source adds credibility to the argument presented and solidifies why the organization exists. Writing online is no different. Adding information from verifiable sources increases the credibility of every post. For example, everything so far in this post is based on personal experience writing online and for clients. However, every university and most major online publications (including Medium) require citations to improve credibility with the reader. Consider this explanation from the Poor Center for Teaching and Learning at Yale University:
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