Citation Obsession? Get Over It!

Bibliographic citation has apparently eclipsed perfect grammar and the five-paragraph theme as the preoccupation of persnickety professors.

What a colossal waste. Citation style remains the most arbitrary, formulaic, and prescriptive element of academic writing taught in American high schools and colleges. Now a sacred academic shibboleth, citation persists despite the incredibly high cost-benefit ratio of trying to teach students something they (and we should also) recognize as relatively useless to them as developing writers.

—Kurt Schick

44 Notes/ Hide

  1. allthebeachboyslooklikesharks reblogged this from visualturn
  2. interactiveevangelism reblogged this from visualturn
  3. nails-on-a-chalkboard reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan
  4. convincingindie reblogged this from rainabloom and added:
    ^ Listen to Raina here. LISTEN.
  5. waitingtocollide reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan and added:
    I agree with the article- learning citations in high school was a complete waste of time. While it is important to know...
  6. youreverymove reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan
  7. rainabloom reblogged this from mimisaurus and added:
    One of the key concepts I teach in my class is citation - when to cite, how to cite, why to cite. I spend weeks teaching...
  8. mimisaurus reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan and added:
    All my love for MLA.
  9. girlwithalessonplan reblogged this from visualturn and added:
    I will never think teaching MLA citation is a waste of time. I don’t make it 50% of the paper by any means, but it’s an...
  10. visualturn posted this