Citing What Is In Your Sight

Never cite a source unless it was actually in your sight.

It’s simple:

• If you saw a tombstone’s picture on FindAGrave, cite that website–do not indicate you were in the cemetery yourself or took the picture yourself.
• If you saw a transcription of a will in a published book, cite the book and that book’s transcription–do not cite the will itself.
• If your Mother told you something about her mother, cite your mother as the source-do not cite Grandma as you didn’t hear Grandma actually say that something.

Whether the source is accurate is another story. We just want our citations to accurately reflect what used.

To learn everything you ever wanted to know about citations, see Evidence Explained.