Putting more effort into citing your sources is one of the most important things that you can do to improve your family history research.
Reason No. 1. So that you can find the source again
You may well ask ‘Why would I need to find the source again? I have extracted all the information I need and I have a copy saved onto my computer.’
Even the best researcher may miss some information, copy information inaccurately, or misinterpret information in a source. Taking time with a source, reading it thoroughly and making good notes can reduce but not eliminate the risk of these things happening.
Taking a copy is useful but it does not solve the problem, because the copy that we make is usually just part of the source. It usually does not have the contextual information that may affect how the source is interpreted. For example, we may not copy title page or the page with the abbreviations on it. Examining a source again is the only solution to these problems.
When we examine a source, we do it from the perspective of what we already know about a family or locality and with a specific research question in mind. That information and that question affect how we read and interpret the source, and they influence what information we record and the pages or sections of the source that we copy.
Later, when we have learned more about the family or locality or we have a different research question, the source should be examined again from the new perspective.
So, not only will you want to look at a source again, you should look at it again. So make sure you cite it.
Reason No. 2. So that others can find the source that you used
You may well ask, ‘Why should I bother helping other people with their research?’
And I’d ask, ‘Do you use other people’s research? Or do you just rely entirely on original sources?’
I don’t know how it works in other countries, but in Australia it is extremely rare to have access to original sources for family history. We rely heavily on digital images of original sources and derivative sources, including the work of other researchers. So, if we expect others to provide source citations to help us then we should do the same.
Helping others also means that you are helping yourself, because collaborating on research provides substantial benefits. The people that want to use your research are probably related to you in some way or they have similar research interests. They may have information that you do not have, or access to sources that you cannot access.
Or, when they use your source citation to find the source, you may find that they have different insights into the information that could also benefit your research. If you help them by providing a source citation, you may find that they will help you in return.
Collaboration is good research practice. Help others by citing your sources.
Reason No. 3. To acknowledge the work of others
If we use the work or ideas of another person in our family history research then we need to acknowledge their work, and source citations are a good way to do that.
If you present the work or ideas of others in a way that suggests that it is your own work then you are committing plagiarism. Failing to acknowledge the work of others is not a big deal if you do not present the results of your research to others.
However, you do need to cite your sources if you put your research online, or include it in a book, essay, thesis or journal article. A source citation is needed when you quote from another work; include ideas or the work of another researcher; or if you include data, images or media produced by someone else.
Just because someone has researched the same family as you, it does not always mean that you have to acknowledge their research. If you extract information from their research, then verify it using original or reliable derivative sources. You then cite those sources. This is because the information is not their creative property.
However, if they wrote a story about their family based on the information, then that story is their creative property. It needs to be acknowledged with a source citation. In such cases, copyright may also apply and you may need to seek their permission to reproduce it.
Reason No. 4. To help you analyse the source
One of the most important and often overlooked reasons to cite your sources is that doing so helps you analyse the source, and this improves the quality of your research.
Writing a source citation forces you to examine the source more closely. Consider the nature of the source and why it was created. Identify who created the source and where it was created.
Identify if there is anyone with creative property rights – such as an author or a photographer. And, if it is an unpublished source, think carefully about the details required to help someone find the source for themselves.
All of the information gathered for the purpose of citing a source helps us to understand the information in the source. It increases the likelihood that we will interpret the source and the information accurately.
More information
Note: This article was originally posted in two parts, but has now been merged into a single article.
For a comprehensive discussion about source citations, see my article Citing Family History Sources. For more of my articles on documenting your family history, go to the Document page.
For help citing family history sources, consider these resources:
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