Give Credit Where Credit is Due

Chip Scanlan writes about the importance of giving cerdit where credit is due. In his article "The First Peril: Fabrication", Scanlan discusses the importance of atrribution and the challenge that journalists face to balance creativity and fact.

Many journalists face writers block. Scanlan says that it is not uncommon for a journalist to begin writing a story without using his or her notes. This could, however, become dangerous if a journalists gets all the way to the end of the story without ever using notes. A journalist wants to be sure sure they story he or she has written is accurate.Not only is it important to cite your sources for credibility, but readers want to know where a writer is getting the information from.

Scanlan came up with some questions a journalist can ask him or herself when writing an event story to ensure that it is accurate. Some of the questions include: Are my sources reliable? Does lack of attribution diminish credibility? Do I not only have the facts right but also the right facts?

Scalan understands that some journalists may feel that attributions may slow down the flow of a story, but plagiarism can bring your entire career to a stop. The Internet has made everything so accessible that stealing somebody else's work is literally as easy as clicking a button.

In todays "one click world" it is easy for journalists to be lazy. Scanlan came up with a list of tips to avoid plagiarism.

Chip Scalan's Tips to Avoid Plagiarism:

• Avoid what Marilyn Randall calls "note-book syndrome": words copied from other sources that make their way, unattributed, into your copy. Write your first draft without notes. Remember the story is in your head, not in your notes. Make a note where you want to insert a quote.
  
  
• Give credit. Thomas Mallon, author of Stolen Words, an engaging history of plagiarism, says writers should follow a general rule: "If you think you should attribute it, then attribute it."
  
  
• The only way you can use a quote from another publication is if you attribute it. ("The mayor is crazy," Smith told the Daily Blatt.) The need for attribution should be enough to make you realize you should do the interview yourself, unless that is impossible. ("The mayor is crazy," Smith told the Daily Blatt the day before he disappeared.)
  
  
• Consider using a text box or online links. In some magazines, readers are pointed to source materials for the story if they wish to pursue the subject further.
  
  
• Always identify the sources of your information as you are gathering it.
  
  
• If you copy something verbatim be sure to put it in quotes and identify the page number and source, whether it's a book or magazine or page on the World Wide Web. If you are paraphrasing, be sure to include the source.
  
  
• Note your sources: book title, author, page number; address of a Web page (you'd be wise, given how often links expire, to make a printout).
  
  
• Manage your time wisely. Plagiarism is a desperate act. Writers behind on a deadline, exhausted, anxious, may delude themselves into believing that what they're doing is nothing more than a shortcut. When in doubt, check with your editor.
  
  
• The bottom line: Be honest about where you got your information.

Lastly, Scanlan includes that it is simply in the Code of Ethics for journalists to cite their sources. It comes down to respect and honesty. So be sure to pay respect to your fellow journalists and contributors...citte your sources.