Research and citing: find it, check it, credit it

Explaining starts with finding out. Good research isn't just typing a question into a search box and copying the first answer. It's more like detective work: gathering clues from different places and checking they agree.

Where to look

Check before you trust

For every source, ask four questions: Who made it, and do they know about this topic? When was it made, and is it still up to date? Why was it made: to inform, to sell, to persuade? What evidence does it give? If two trusted sources say the same thing, you can be more confident it's true.

Notes in your own words

Read a section, close the book or tab, then write what you remember in your own words. This helps you understand and stops you copying by accident. If you want someone's exact words, put them in quotation marks and write down who said them.

Give credit

Using someone else's words or ideas without saying where they came from is called plagiarism. Giving credit is easy. At the end of your article, add a reference list. For each source, include:

Images and Creative Commons

Just because an image is online doesn't mean you can use it. Use your own photos and drawings, or look for images with a Creative Commons licence, which means the creator allows reuse if you follow their rules, usually by naming them. Always write a credit under the image.