Alright everyone,
The contest is now full swing. Most of you are doing a great job! It's wonderful to see so many new bloggers taking part in the contest and sharing opinions. But, it is once again time for a few quick notes to some of you.
In the past two days we have received three bogus Featured Blogger nominations. Honestly guys, we aren't complete idiots. If you're nominating yourself and putting someone else's username as the nominator, we will find out. If you're creating multiple accounts and nominating yourself, we will find out. If you're having a friend sign up just to nominate you, we will find out. In order to be featured, the nomination has to be valid. None of the situations described above count as valid nominations. You won't be featured. You won't receive the 100 points for nominating. We go through the nominations very carefully, you can't win so you might as well save yourself a violation notice and us the work of informing you of the violation and not try 
Most of you have done incredibly well when it comes to being civil, but it should be noted yet again that name calling is not tolerated. If you resort to name calling, we will track you down and send you a ToS violation notice. Repeat violations and you will be disqualified from the contest and your account will be removed. So... just don't do it. And if you do participate in name-calling, do not then whine and gripe when we track you down.
Next... pay careful attention to the instructions on the Scavenger Hunt! We've received quite a few entries with blogs and/or comments linked as answers even though the directions clearly state that none of the answers are found in a blog. I repeat, none of the answers are found in a blog (or in a comment).
And finally, if you are quoting, paraphrasing or copying someone else's work, it must be cited. Do not copy more than four paragraphs of another's work. Do not quote an article and not provide a link. Do not post chain letters and call it a blog. Every entry must contain 200 words of original content. That means, you must write 200 words in addition to anything that you are taking from another source (and I say again anything you take from elsewhere must be cited and should not be more than four paragraphs in total). We have had authors contact us in the past to inform us that their work had been copied and they were contemplating taking action against the offender. Other users and moderators routinely check to ensure that posts aren't plagiarized. If you wrote it and posted it elsewhere, make sure you note as much on the entry, because it will inevitably be flagged and unpublished while we sort it out. There is nothing more infuriating to a writer than having someone else use their work and not give credit.
If you have questions about any of these notes or about anything not covered here, ask us! We are here to help, but we can't do that if we don't know what you need help understanding, doing, fixing, etc!
Cheers!
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
And just to clarify... You don't get points for someone nominating you to be a featured blogger. THEY get points for nominating you. So why would you want those points attributed to someone else in the first place?
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Plagiarism...
http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/what_is_plagiarism.html
Do not write a paper including information which is not considered common knowledge (i.e. the earth is round, the United States has 50 states, or Kate is a female) and expect us to not look for sources. If you do not cite a source, and include information that isn't common knowledge, you are guilty of plagiarism, and you will be asked to provide your source.
Crediting your sources also facilitates discussion, as readers will know where you are coming from and be able to point out whether your sources are biased or legitimate. This can be an important point in debate, especially here on ProU. For example, if I am arguing that racism is cool, and then I use a KKK website as my source, this would obviously be a bogus argument. That's one of the many reasons why you cite your sources.
Some of things that I have been writing about and plan to write about involve political science and I am trying to perfect this one blog now that contains a bit about neuroscience. My courses in school target those subjects and I often like to share the information that I have learned or the understandings that I have accumulated over the past year in those subject areas. I guess a lot of my opinion then would be based on the information that I discovered in those classes. Should I sight the textbook that I used when I originally learned it? I am just not really sure what to do about that instance. I have been posting websites where people can get more info if I quoted something or such, but what I am asking about is something that is common knowledge to me that I have accumulated over a long period of time may not be common knowledge to someone else. How should I distinguish that through my blog so that it does not come off as though I am plagiarizing when I really am not.
Start off by saying something like 'I learned about such and such in my neuroscience class'. I usually do a little bit of additional research as well, to help clarify some of the points I learned in class.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
If you can remember it without using the text, then don't cite it. If you have to go back to the textbook to make sure you remember it properly (i.e. a statistic or specific fact) then you'll need to cite it.
If you don't cite, people won't know where you are coming from, and they won't be able to have a starting point to do their own research. Especially on interesting topics - like this neuroscience one you are talking about!
thanks for the clarification
I generally at least note what book I found it in, if I can remember or even still have the book. If you can remember at least part of the book's name and can remember things like what the cover looked like, you can often do a Google search and find the book, which can provide a link. Many books, especially college text books, are available in libraries and online stores, so it's a good idea to give that info if you can.
I posted an entry a while back regarding the reasons why we're so nit-picky about information citing, which will probably give you a little more information about what's expected around here (and mods, feel free to make use of it if you want).
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
I'm glad there is a rule against posting chain letters. Seriously, most people know where you got it from, we've seen it enough. If you want it to be a good blog, and you think the letter has something of value in it, then discuss it in your blog.
so if we quote the Bible,do we need to cite a source? (like publishing company and whatnot?)
It would be helpful it you'd cite which book (i.e. King James, Matthew 1:5) so people can find it.
Also, the bible is not considered a reliable source unless you are debating with other people who believe in the bible the same way you do. For example, if you and I were debating Gay Marriage, Abortion, or Why the Sky is Blue, if you were to cite the bible I would then follow up your citation with 3-4 links discrediting the bible. If you and I were debating how Joseph really got to Bethlehem, the bible is a source you could use.
Nicholas Aden
Self-Promotion
My Creative Writing
Clarifying what Nick said, there's no rule against citing the bible in any circumstance, but you've got to be prepared for people to challenge you big time on it. Same is true for any holy book and the like.
"What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!"
H. P. Lovecraft
Do we cite sources as we would in a bibliography, using MLA or APA style?
Thank you.
"A library is a hospital for the mind." Anonymous
You can, but a simple link works just fine.
Nicholas Aden
Self-Promotion
My Creative Writing
~The Writer~
So...How does this point system work?
I would like win this scholarship because paying for college is a hassle,
but I think I already broke this "no name-calling" rule,
and if I haven't I'm rather certain I will sooner or later.
You receive 50 points for every blog entry you post; 10 points for every comment you post; 1 point for every unique read (by others) of your blog; 100 points for nominating someone to be featured (so long as it is a valid nomination). You also receive points for inviting others to ProU and for bonus ops.. I cant remember what the invite points are off the top of my head and the bonus op points vary (and will be noted on any bonus op).
You don't loose points for name calling unless we have to delete the post/comment. However Repeat violations for namecalling will get you disqualified and will likely get you booted as well. Any time you violate a ToS or an official rule, you will get a notice in PM or email (if you've opted to not receive PM's) from a moderator telling you what the violation is for and what you should do about it.
-----
~Fallon~
“What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks your wrong?” Ethergoth
-----
~The Writer~
Ok. And is it just...when the dust settles, whoever has the most points wins?
Is there just one winner?
Thanks for being patient with me =]. I'm slow on the pickup.
There are actually three winners.
The contestant with the most points receives $1,000. The next two contestants receive $500.
You can find all of this information in the FAQS.
http://www.progressiveu.org/BFP_FAQ
~The Writer~
Thank you very much.
How exactly do you wish for us to cite things? In my most recent entry, I started with a quote from a book and after the book included the name of the book and the author. Is that what you need, or does it need to be cited more formally?
Ross Kressel
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/rosskressel
If the blog includes the name of the book and the author, that's enough.
Otherwise, a link or a short "works cited" at the bottom including any materials you used for information in the blog is fine. It doesn't have to be a formal bibliography, just enough to credit the source and let people know where you got your information from.
I have blogged about five times and I find it discouraging that it is so difficult to get reads. I go around and read other's blogs but only the ones that are recent while the others just seem to disappear. And the blogs which appear on the home page get tons of reads while others are left unnoticed, how can one get a blog on the home page?
You can get more reads in several ways: By commenting in the blogs of others, using your buddy list, getting high ratings, and by being promoted (I'm sure there are others but these are the ones I thought of on the fly).
http://www.progressiveu.org/node/37608
To get promoted, you have to catch the eye of one of the moderators like myself. We promote blogs that we find are exemplary.
http://www.progressiveu.org/node/37609
I am commenting on others blogs and I am seeing a red notice giving me the total of my points, and evidently I only have 20. Do my previous blogs not go towards my point accumulation?
Not if they were written before the scholarship.
"What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!"
H. P. Lovecraft
No, but any reads on those blogs made during the contest period will go towards your point total at the end of the contest.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
The scholarship contest began on February 15th - so only the reads made after February 15th will count on your blogs written before this date (I know that's a little confusing). Otherwise, blogs or comments do not count unless they were made after the beginning of the contest.
Don't worry though - there is plenty of time to catch up. I started a whole month late and I still won $500!
Kate
And I started a contest period early and still couldn't win anything... ;'( lol
"What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!"
H. P. Lovecraft
I didn't win anything until I became a volunteer, and by then I had enough that I didn't need the scholarship anymore.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
lol. I could never win. I don't write enough blogs.
"What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!"
H. P. Lovecraft
You can also get reads by featuring your blogs off the site as well. Include a link in the signature of your e-mails. If you're on other forum-based websites, include a link in your signature there.
And, of course, as Katie mentioned, commenting on blogs will help get you noticed, and people will start reading your blogs.
I know it's frustrating... I had the same frustration when I began. It takes time, but just keep it up.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
In a similar vein, using the Tags properly will help also.Google News, etc index ProgressiveU, so when people search for specific terms, blogs from here will pop up there, thus giving you reads. So including proper tags helps!
As was already mentioned, the buddylist is a great tool as well. Add those that you enjoy hearing from and many will add you in return. When you post a new blog, it will then pop up on a new sidebar menu. Quite a few of our veteran users read posts from their buddy's first simply because those people have made an impression!
-----
~Fallon~
“What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks your wrong?” Ethergoth
-----
I took a look at the blogs that you had and noticed that they were very short (as in, probably barely made the minimum word count), which might be why you haven't gotten much in general.
Getting reads takes a bit of time because it takes time to get your name out there. What the others have mentioned, as well as posting in other people's blogs will all help you get known. If you present a good argument on a debate topic, for example, you might gain the respect of the people you debated with (or the people watching) and they might add you to their friends list, which means they'll be more likely to read your posts.
Also, the 200 word limit isn't an upper limit, but a lower limit. You can have a blog as long as you want, just keep in mind that you're writing for Internet viewing. A good blog is generally two to four pages when written in Word (single-spaced), which should give you enough time to get your point across and your thoughts out without getting so long that people stop reading. If you feel it's getting too long, you can always break it off at a subtopic change, and create a new post about it.
Now, I know what you're thinking, "but I just can't write 200 words!" Well, first of all, if you're getting into college, you're going to be expected to write far more than 200 words (a couple of my last few weekly/bi-weekly papers were around 1000), so start getting used to it. How? Well, first, stop thinking about the word count, just write. You'd be amazed at what you can do if you don't concern yourself with how long or how short it is. When you first write it, don't even use Word. Instead, use Notepad, that way you can't keep track of pages or word counts. Once you're done, then copy and paste it into Word for spell check and whatnot. While you're writing, go into detail. Say you're writing about your choice of faith. Why did you choose that faith? What brought you to it? What was it like before you found it? And, of course, the best way is to just keep writing. It'll come easier with time. If you still find yourself struggling with the word count, make each post a little longer. Start with a goal of 250 words, then 300, then 350.
Finally, Internet formatting is a little different than formatting for print. The use of HTML formatting tags (a nice list of which can be found at Webmonkey), as well as separating paragraphs by an extra space (note this reply), can go a long way to improving readability and, eventually, read counts. Many of my blogs are long enough that they are separated into subtopics, if you'd like examples for what I'm talking about.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
dragonwolf has provided some excellent advice, and you should definitely check out here blog here about information citing as well http://progressiveu.org/102348-a-note-on-information-citing .
: )
Why haven't you joined the moderating team yet?!
-----
~Fallon~
“What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks your wrong?” Ethergoth
-----
Lol, I might now that I've gotten the majority of my schoolwork out of the way (had senior project, plus 2 other demanding classes [accelerated], and working full time).
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
We'd love you forever
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
I second that opinion.