Tuesday, December 8, 2015

When in doubt cite it.

I’m totally paranoid! After last week’s class and the example of the student getting the boot from the program she was taking because of a citation mistake (plagiarism) was a little chilling. I’m of the understanding that I have learned everything I know from someone. Should I cite them?  At what point does common knowledge trump having to cite the said knowledge. This issue kind of falls parallel with the issue of politically correctness. It is common in today’s world to offend someone for doing or not doing something in the same day to two different people. Do I say Marry Christmas or happy holidays? In any case I’m much more in favor of letting knowledge and ideas flow freely. Although I do understand what citation brings to a paper, it brings weight, expertise, credentials, legitimacy, and authority. I haven’t really presented a reason for someone to cite me, maybe if I did I would feel different about getting my credit where credit is due.

1 comment:

  1. I feel you! Where does the citing end? When do we know exactly when to and when not to cite someone for their work? Like you said, maybe once I have given someone a reason to cite me, I will feel differently about it..

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