Cite It, or Bite It!

When reading a professional article, or attending a presentation from corporate peers, certain things are assumed. For instance, the presenter will be attired correctly. You don't expect your expert to be clad in a tank top with shorts and a pair of flip-flops. Also, you expect a professional tone with the language. One shouldn't hear things like "Dude, Service Oriented Architectures ROCK! Your a f**king moron if you write too much sh*tty code, man!". You also expect correct grammar and spelling. These are pretty safe assumptions, I'm sure.

Well, esteemed readers, I hereby would like to propose another de facto standard with professional articles, presentations, and the like. I propose a taboo with using the words "studies show", or use of the word "percent", unless you provide the source you are quoting. I'm sure most of the time, people throw around these words quite innocently, with good intentions. But there are those who float around these words for the purpose of evil. I remember a presentation from a software vendor that stated "85% of IT projects do not get done on time", and then went on to say that this number would go down to 6% if you "buy our product". His sources were not cited. In my opinion, this is a deliberate attempt to mislead, a vested interest in omitting or forgetting the source.

I recognize that some intentions are noble. For example, in researching articles, I have in front of me an article by Jason Cohen for Better Software Magazine (April 2007, p39) who says, "Studies show that the average inspection takes nine man-hours per 200 lines of code...". Perfect! Just the information I'd like to reference in some of my project documents. But who did this study? When? An inspection of LISP, SmallTalk, C# code? I can't use this! He's probably correct, but where in the hell did he get these precise numbers?

So, here's a challenge for you. The next time you are at a presentation, and hear the word "percent", consider it a personal insult if its not qualified. Hearing "studies show" without citing the study is the same as hearing "you're too stupid to know where I got this from, just agree, dummy". Be insulted. If its an article, imagine replacing it with a picture of a big ol' middle finger cast in your direction. Be offended. I heartily recommend retaliating by simply asking "Excuse me, just wondering where these numbers come from? Sounds intriguing, so I'd like to follow up with that source, if possible?" Be prepared for the standard, "I don't have that information with me. I'll get it to you." You'll get a date with Jessica Alba sooner than you'll get the info from this guy on his study.

It should be a simple thing. If the idea, or the numbers, don't come from you, then cite it! Cite it, or bite it! Catchy slogan, I should trademark that.


"Doctors say he's got a 50/50 chance of making it, though there's only a 25% chance of that!"- Capt. Ed Hocken, "The Naked Gun"