It is important to pay attention to both formatting and style requirements when citing your sources for several reasons. First, as the video for this week explains, formatting tells the researcher how the information used was created (Eisen 2014). Proper formatting can express where the information came from, such as a peer-reviewed journal article, the news, or even twitter. While formatting depends on the way you are using the information for your study, it allows us to see the direction of the study based on this information used.

Second, paying attention to formatting and style requirements do help make your life easier by making your writing consistent. As the first video for the week explains, following these requirements means you do not have to think about font size or style, provides guidance on when to cite source to avoid plagiarism and give proper credit to the original author, and expresses a sense of professionalism in your writing (Ewing 2018). This consistency helps when publishing your work or submitting to peer-reviewed journals who seek consistency in formatting and citing sources throughout their publications. This helps avoid confusion and adheres to a consistent set of standards followed by other writers.

Third, formatting, at least to me, is incredibly important when it comes to citing your sources because it allows the reader to properly see what sources you have used for your study. This means that the reader can easily access the sources you have provided, and verify the information used. It helps determine the credibility and reliability of your sources as you can see where the information came from, who is behind the information, and what biases may exist. With this, you can also determine the validity of the source by seeing if it comes again, from a newspaper, a government website, a peer-reviewed journal, or a blog. When assessing if your argument is valid or properly founded, it is important to know on what information that opinion if based on.

And lastly, following formatting and style requirements increases the readability of the paper. When not properly structured and organized, it can become frustrating to read. Formatting requirements allows the writer to organize their train of thought in an appropriate manner, and allows the reader a more structured sense of what the paper is doing. Meaning, you have listed out what the paper is going to accomplish with the table of contents, followed by the introduction, the issue at hand, the argument or evaluation, a potential solution if needed, and a strong conclusion. It flows this way instead of having the information all over the place.

According to the above post, Have you found similar tips helpful with your own experiences? How have your experiences differed from your peers?