A blog is in many ways an open dialog between you and your audience. Even though there isn’t much for government oversight or laws on blogging (at least not yet), one rule you should be sure to follow is to cite your sources.
According to Susan Gunelius in her blog post “Top 3 Blogging Rules,” the number one rule that all bloggers should follow is to be sure and cite your sources. It may at times seem like a nuisance to have to cite any point of reference, but it is a commonly practiced rule in any other form of journalism. In many ways, that’s what a blog really is – a form of journalism.
If you’re debating if you should cit a source or not – cite it. If nothing else, the golden rule applies and if someone else used something you wrote, you’d probably want to be credited for it. Truth be told, it’s really not that much extra work to cite your sources. It also helps show a certain level of professionalism on your part, and in the end, that’s one of the key purposes of a blog – to showcase your professionalism.
Gunelius, Susan. “Top 3 Blogging Rules.” About Tech, http://weblogs.about.com/od/bloggingethics/tp/Top3BloggingRules.htm