2 Minute Approval Tips: Limit Cited Material
Episode 4 of the “2 Minute Approval Tips” video series.
This series is designed to help get your articles approved on the first submission. We’ve looked at past submission records to find the most common reasons why articles aren’t approved on the initial try. Since we know your time is precious, we’ve compressed this information into individual 2-minute videos.
This episode is about providing fresh original content in every article. Articles should be built on your expertise in the form of tips, techniques, analysis and commentary. In nearly all cases, referencing outside sources isn’t necessary to nail down a point. You should be able to use your own expertise to make your point. Instances where you use quoted text should be few and far between. If you must include some quoted material, here are some tips on how to do it the right way.
If you don’t have two minutes to spare, here’s a quick recap of the fourth “2 Minute Approval Tip”:
- Be Original – Make your articles original with your own tips, strategies, techniques, case-studies, analysis, opinions and commentary.
- Only Reference If Absolutely Necessary – Just because you CAN include sourced material doesn’t mean you SHOULD include it. Your readers are looking to you as the expert, so measure up to their expectations with original and informative content and avoid referencing outside sources.
- Cite Right – EzineArticles accepts most reference citation methods. In the rare cases when you need to reference something, make sure you provide enough information to lead the reader to the original source.
- Go Above and Beyond For Your Audience – Don’t include content from an outside source in order to pass the 400-word requirement. Sourced material does NOT count toward your word count in the eyes of the EzineArticles Editorial Staff.
- Provide Quality Analysis or Commentary – Articles that have more than 5 sections of quoted text will not be approved. If there are 5 or less sections from another source, the rest of the article must be 100% original and provide quality analysis or commentary.
Watch for more “2 Minute Approval Tips” in the coming weeks. And before you submit your next set of quality, original articles, leave us a comment to share one of your own approval tips for keeping your material original.
Thanks Marc
You stress excellently the keys of successful article writing – interesting, relevant, original content!
Keep the tips coming – always appreciated!
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