To all of our beloved advocates

To all of our beloved advocates

Just a reminder and a lesson.

The sharing of information is essential in regards to the spreading of awareness. However, it is important to always cite your sources of information. Doing so adds credibility to your work. Not doing so is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a form of theft, and if you get caught, can truly damage your credibility.

This is why, for example, I have chosen the format for Legally Kidnapped that I have. I always cite my sources, in fact, in order to read almost any article that I publish here, you are required to go to the original source if you choose to read the article. If I do not cite the source, it is because of the authors wish to remain anonymous. This request will always be respected on Legally Kidnapped. And I don't care who sends it. I will notify you when this happens, I will not, however, claim the work of another as my own if I didn't write it myself. What I do here, is considered "Fair Use" because I simply provide you with links to the works of others, and do not claim the works as my own unless I wrote myself. After all, who am I and why should you take my word for it?

If you use excerpts from another authors work in a piece of your own writing, you should cite the source. To do so is considered scholarly. Not to do so is again, plagiarism. By citing the original source of a piece of work that you reference, it shows that you did your research and that your work should be taken seriously. It shows that you are a credible person who would not steal the work of another and promote it as your own. It is also totally acceptable to reference the work of another author, provided you give credit where credit is due.

I am writing this because, I did, last night, come across a piece of work that is being shared without the authors information. In this case, and I'm not going to name any names as I assume it was an oversight because I would not consider the person who sent it to me one as being known for plagiarism, nor did the person who sent it to me claim it as their own work, as it is a case of one person sharing the work, and others sending it out to others further and further, I did however take the steps to correct this oversite.

This piece of work which was shared, was not only shared without the authors info, but was also posted to another blog by a blogger who deserves kudos and big virtual hugs for correcting this immediately upon being notified. In this case, the work was mistakenly attributed to another person who is also considered a respectable member in the world of family rights, but did not claim the work as their own. This person simply shared this brilliant piece of work via an email newsletter after being passed onto him or her by another. That could damage the credibility of the person who sent the email because the work was attributed to him or her by mistake, regardless of the fact that this person in no way, shape or form tried to claim the work as their own.

When a piece of work is sent out via email without the authors information, then sent out again by others, etc, (when it goes viral etc) the author who happens to be a very hard worker for all of you gets no credit and no benefit from his or her own hard work, and depending on certain factors, some authors would even sue you in an attempt to get something out of their work and damage your credibility.

Authors generally love to have their work shared, referenced and cited. To do so is a compliment to the author, even when you are arguing the accuracy of what the author has said. But always add in that information. Always add in a link to the source, the name of the book, whatever it is. If someone out there is to take your work seriously, or tries to challenge what you say, they should know where to look to see things in the proper context.

Otherwise you will damage your own credibility. This can not be tolerated if you want to be taken seriously. And perhaps this very important rule should be added into the discussion to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.

I don't make the rules people. This is just the way the world works.

Peace, Love and Flowers
LK