Citation Encouragement Topic

As to why this is suggested, academically, you need to cite the sources of your claims. Think of it like a "work cited" page of an essay.

You can write all the most ridiculous "facts", but without anything cited, who will believe you? No one. They will remain ridiculous until they are backed by legitimate sources. With sources, even the most far gone of ideas can be proven true.

While we know this isn't school, it is still encouraged that you prove your points before you begin bashing what other people say or try to make yourself seem like the sole "intelligent" person. Of course, people can also point out if you have perhaps misinterpreted a source and tell you if that source is "no good" and such. In addition to this, however, you can also help others who are more interested in a topic find a good book or source to learn from.

Note, you are not required to cite information that is "general knowledge" what is considered "general knowledge" is up to you, however. Remember that not everyone may be as well-versed or knowledgable in history as you are.

Examples of general knowledge would be: Mitsuhide assassinating Nobunaga or Cao Cao losing at Chibi.

Things that are not general knowledge, however, would include: "Sima Yi enjoyed going into battle wearing a tutu" or "Zhuge Liang rode a pimp mobile into battle" would require sourcing (though these are horrid examples).

Citations are not required, but they CAN be used to your advantage. If you are opposed to what someone claims, then you cannot just spout random arguments without legitimate sources. Likewise, their arguments are useless without sources and you can just dismiss their claims for lack of citation.

Remember, this is not a rule, just encouragement. This is not to deter people from posting in the history forums, but rather to ensure there is accuracy to what members say.