On my Philosophy of Citations and the Style I use


If I told you that Benjamin Franklin planned the future American expedition to the moon 200 years prior, would you believe me? No, you wouldn't, and you shouldn't, given how specific (though not entirely unlikely) that statement is. I made it up, and although you may have taken my word for it, maybe using it as a fun fact on a first date or family dinner, I think it would be quiet irresponsible of me to leave such things unsubstantiated.

This is why citations are important. Moreso, citing work well and clearly is extremely important in upholding journalistic integrity, of ensuring trust between the reader and writer. When reading my work, I wish for you to feel confident in its factual basis, at least when I claim to be citing fact, so that you never have to second guess or source yourself. This makes it easier to pick up knowledge. Sometimes, the facts arnt known, but in those times, my citations will not claim to bring the facts to life.

It has become a trend among online news websites to hyperlink a word or phrase that requires citation. Beyond underlining it and sometimes turning it blue, the hyperlink is meant to be clicked on. When done, it links you (in theory) to the web source, or in other words, the citation. I say 'in theory' because throughout my time reading these pieces I have time and again come across this done extremely poorly, even in such "esteemed" publications like the New York Times and Washington Post. You see, this journalism in many ways is lazy. It often does not tell the reader where on the web page lies the source they are referring to, and occasionally, the web page dosnt come up at all.
























{Wikipedia is especially guilty of this}



I detest this sort of profound laziness. Worse, I understand it, because as you may or may not have seen, my journalism on this website still contains this style of citation. Even though I can claim that my citations are good, and that you can trust that you will not be sent to an error404 page, this is still unacceptable - I must come up with a better style. I've thought about Chicago, or APA, but those seem too academically professional for this form of journalism.

Citations must enshrine to the reader the factual basis of what they are reading. They also act as a library of knowledge, a place where the reader can discover more about the topic. This is what I aim to provide here, at Insideanenigma.com