How and why to source your work

Hey folks. A quick word here about properly sourcing your articles. Hear me out. I know this may sound lame and dry, and you’ve probably heard the story before. But properly documenting where the information in your article comes from not only helps us editors accomplish the fact checking part of our day, but it helps assure that you, the writer, use information that is factually accurate and that your story has solid ground upon which to stand. Besides, if, in the process of fact-checking your article, an editor comes across something that cannot be substantiated (ie. no source attributable to the “fact”), then, unfortunately, that part of the story can’t be printed. Otherwise we could just print out-right lies, and that’s not what the media does. Right?

Bookmark all the pages you scan through while searching for information for your story, because you never know when you’ll find exactly what it is you’re looking for. Creating folders in your web-browser to store related links is never a bad idea. This will save you much time and frustration, for not only yourself, but for the editors who review your work over the long haul. A couple quick keystrokes as you research will save immeasurable stress and pain if you attempt to retrace the steps to a key bit of information or a particularly apt quote in the minutes leading up to a deadline.

Use the Fact-Checking sheet available on our website as a template for organizing the sources for each of your articles, and you will never have to curse the day you failed to substantiate something you’ve written. Properly sourcing your article for submission really is just as easy as adding a “comment” to the text (when working with Word) and then pasting in the link to your source of information. Footnotes are also a good idea, though simply adding a “comment” is faster, easier and overall less work for everyone. If you and the editors know exactly where a fact or statement comes from, everyone will sleep sounder for it.