Crediting Sources

Discussion in 'Fight Discussions' started by Sever, Aug 20, 2006.

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  1. Sever

    Sever Valued Member

    If you post “news” in this forum, be it a new fighter interview, word of upcoming fights, an event card, fighter injuries etc, please cite your sources

    What does that mean?

    Simple: if you post anything resembling MMA news, give us a link as to where you got it

    Why should I do that?

    It’s basically good practise. Backing your post up with a legitimate source gives readers an idea of how seriously to take your post. This matters because this is the internet and, not to put too fine a point on it, your word is worth next to nothing. It also gives credit to the person who wrote the article which is important since in this age of litigation, MAP could end up sued (especially since some people are fond of copying and pasting pages wholesale and then not even mentioning that there ever was a source – copy and paste if you like, but provide a link or valid reference)
    Basically, if you post something you consider news, and don’t post a link, A) people will laugh at you and B) I’ll have to do your work for you and find out where you got this. I’m sick of doing that. Matters of record (a fighter's record, fight dates etc) do not need sources since they're exactly that - matters of record

    So what’s a “Legitimate Source?”

    Sites like www.mmaweekly.com, www.sherdog.com's newspage (NOT their forum), http://news.adcombat.com/ are all pretty reputable. www.insidefighting.com have been good in the past, but have been a little funky here and there and have been called on the carpet about some of their interviews being “embellished.”
    Fightsport.com is not considered a legitimate source. Your brother’s friend’s girlfriend’s cousin’s nephew’s boyfriend standing behind Fedor’s translator in a supermarket queue and overhearing his conversation is not a legitimate source. Unsourced posts on other forums are not legitimate sources. Please remember that linking to other forums is against MAP’s Terms of Service

    What if I’m not sure about whether my source is legitimate?

    Post it anyway. A source is a source and something is better than an unsourced post. If it’s one of the obviously funky ones I mentioned above, I’ll laugh at you, if it’s something else, we can at least get an idea whether or not it’s time to panic/ get excited. Worst comes to the worst and you’re really not sure, PM me and I’ll discuss it with you. I’m nice like that :)

    How about if my post is about a rumour which is doing the rounds in other MMA forums?

    ALWAYS mention that it’s a rumour going around some other forums, thus, again, we know whether or not it’s time to panic or get excited. There’s nothing lamer than someone going around touting their rumours from Sherdog as facts and trying to pass themselves off as some kind of MMA insider, especially when their rumours come to be BS. I would greatly prefer it you did a bit of legwork and followed these rumours back to try and find an original source though; rumours don’t usually come from nowhere. Sometimes they’re some little net nerd’s imagination running wild, however, hence why sources are preferred

    What if my source isn’t a website but a book or magazine article?

    The good old Harvard Referencing system will do fine. If you’re too lazy to read that link, just provide us with:

    For books

    Title
    Author
    Year of publication
    Edition number
    Page or chapter number so we know where to look

    For magazine articles

    Title of publication
    Title of article
    Author of article
    Issue number
    Date of publication (just a month and year will do fine)

    Following these simple steps will make me a happy mod and will help us all enjoy this forum a bit more. Thanks for reading :)
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2006
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