The unfortunate reality here, however, is that many bloggers themselves often neglect to properly credit other webloggers who break hard news through real reporting. How can we expect the press to source us if we neglect to credit the other members of our own community? Many journalists have a code ethics they must abide by. We don't.

In response to Steve Rubel's Petition to Commit to Proper Blog Sourcing (2004), I've been pondering what a standardized reference/sourcing style bloggers should come up with to gain full credit they deserve from journalists and other bloggers. Proper blog sourcing is pivotal to the integrity of blogosphere and would serve as backing for the creativity of bloggers. Due to the decentralization of blogosphere, we cannot rely on certain individual institution to sketch out codes of ethics for bloggers. We have to be on ourselves. Thus, several questions should be taken into account before we embark on the establishment of the new style.

Why We Need a Reference Style When We Blog

To maintain a reference is always a pain. You have to search for relevant information and read through to make sure you've included all the sources. The job is time-consuming but worth doing in that bloggers should be responsible for what s/he has written and cited. Blogging for personal hobbies/interests/uses does not justify any behaviors violating the principle of "Giving Credit where Credit is Due" (Basham, 2004). Whatever the intention s/he has to maintain a blog (serious writing or simply blah blah blah), it is the blogger's obligation to make sure readers can discern the original opinions from the derivative ones.

It is still under discussion in blogosphere and academia whether blogging is a form of journalism (Lasica, 2001). Whatever the conclusion would be, bloggers ought to treat blogging as seriously as journalists towards reports. Inexact and senseless information broadly disseminated on the Web has been a notable side effect of information overload. Sourcing precisely is a fundamental means of retaining accuracy and credibility of information on the Web. Citing others properly is a basic way to show respects to other's intellectual efforts.

What Specific Reference Style Blogosphere Needs

Despite the existing guidelines specifically designed for electronic sources, the emergence of blog as a new form of online publication has posed new challenges for reference guidelines. The question is twofold indeed: how should bloggers cite and how should blogs be cited. It's actually a reflection of blog writing behaviors and the characteristics of blogs as online publications.

To answer the first question "how should bloggers cite", we should understand the way bloggers write. In a study of Weblogs As Genre aiming to present an overview of blogosphere (Sabrina, et al., 2003), a pattern is revealed that the majority of blogs are personal diaries. In general, contents of personal diaries are informal and descriptive-they concentrate on personal experiences or feelings thus lack references or derivation of other sources. It might seem overly exacting to require personal bloggers to maintain a through list of references about other works they mention in posts. The exaction definitely would kill the joy of blogging as a vent of self-expression thus should not be imposed on casual blogging. Indeed, a proper source is not compulsory in personal diaries but it would increase the credence and integrity of the blogger.

In my humble opinion, it's essential to call for appropriate citation in those blogs working as knowledge bases, journalistic sites or other content providers. Having gone beyond the realm of self-disclosure and self-expression, this kind of blog should abide by certain rules to present unbiased and correct information to relatively broader audiences (compared with most personal blogs). Sourcing properly is one of the basic requirements they should meet to gain credence from audiences. It is also an effective approach to discourage plagiarism, eliminate irresponsible duplication of copyrighted information and promote creativity. To obtain more specific directions on citing online resources including web pages, emails, Listserv messages, etc., bloggers can refer to existing widely used reference styles such as MLA, APA, and Chicago for detailed information.

The second question "how should blogs be cited" has been confronted by journalists who have recognized blogs as sources of news and gradually regard bloggers as informants. Not only journalists but researchers and bloggers per se should think over the question in that they are supposed to cite blog entries reasonably. To locate the answer of the question, we could have a look at the current citation styles for other forms of online resources and think about what adaptation should be made to fit for blogs.

Based on a synthesis of citation components suggested by MLA style, APA style, Chicago Style, CBE style and other styles(Harnack & Kleppinger, 2003), I suggest a set of items listed to provide as much as information as possible when sourcing. Since the question is open to discussion yet, please feel free to make comments and critiques.

Blogger's name
Try to attribute to blogger with real name. Otherwise pseudonym is acceptable.

Title of blog
A blog can be regarded as an anthology of one blogger or multiple bloggers. It would serve as an identity for bloggers with pseudonym or nickname or anonyms as well.

URL of blog

Date of entry
It is convenient to find out such information about certain entries on blogs.

Title of entry
Each entry is supposed to contain a title. If not (very rarely but possible), present the permanent link as a substitute.

Permanent link of entry
Remember to link to the permanent link unique to each entry. It is the best way to locate outdated entries in archives.

Retrieval date

The preceding information can be seen as a repetition of extant citation components. The most interesting thing on sourcing blog is that the characteristics of blog determine the sourcing can be two-way. Feel free to trackback the entry you cite to inform the blogger and express your acknowledgement.