Although you can make use of the <title> tags for all jargons, it is better to have a glossary page. For easy reference, users can directly access a whole page of terms used in this topic.
It is also crucial to set a "common language" in your content. Words must refer to the same thing for all members, and therefore glossary serves to define these key terms.
List your phrases and terms in alphabetical orders to allow users to search for a particular term easily.
Regardless of how good is your website contents, how aesthetically pleasing is your design, or how much you can captivate your audience, if you plagiarize, that is the end of the ThinkQuest for you. Therefore, think thrice before writing your content.
You may want to refer to these guidelines if you are unsure of what plagiarism means:
"(a) copying words or ideas from someone else and attributing those words or ideas as one's own;
(b) copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit;
(c) failing to put a direct quote in quotation marks;
(d) giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation;
(e) changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit;
(f) any copying of another person's work that results in the Entry not being substantially the original work of the Team members, regardless of whether the copied work is cited; and/or
(g) use of website templates without giving credit to the original creator/owner of the template"
Most importantly:
"The Foundation takes plagiarism very seriously. Any plagiarism or copyright violation will result in an entry's disqualification."
Think of it this way – the original creator of the content/design spent hours on it. Is it fair for you just to turn what they have done or said into your own?
For more information on how to paraphrase and the prevention of plagiarism, here is a great tutorial by Houghton Mifflin that you might want to refer to.
Therefore, always cite the sources of references. If you are going to directly lift the source, use quotation marks and make sure you obtain permission from the creator. Do check out any copyright issues and permissions from the source.
Open-Source software available to check for plagiarism (external links):
Explore Deeper
There are many kinds of citation styles. Yes! There are at least four main styles you can use. Here is a general guideline for each type:
AMA - Health, Medicine and Biological sciences.
APA - Education, Psychology and other Social sciences.
MLA - Arts, Humanities and Literature
Turabian/Chicago - History, Political Science and Economics
For more information and examples of these styles, you may want to visit the two websites (external links) below.
Let your readers know who are behind the scenes.
Here you would want to include a short description of your team members as well as your coaches to give your website a pinch of personal touch. Make use of this opportunity to also share what you have done, learnt and how you have overcome problems. Also, show how your site was produced and how your team members worked together. If you would like to, you can also insert photographs of your team members. Be as creative as you can get!
Do take note though, NOT to give away your own individual email addresses. This is AGAINST the ThinkQuest Rules and Regulations. What you can really do is to include a group email address created by your team. You can take turns to check the email, and make sure someone replies to queries that your audience might make.
You might want to refer to the collaboration section on ThinkQuest Evaluation Criteria.
Global Perspective - Working with people from different countries
More often than not, ThinkQuest participants forming a team come from more than a country. This is a good chance to make new friends, work with people from other cultures and diversity, and also use a variety of ideas and opinions from each individual. This way, more can be learnt from what you have already known, and add on to your team's website.
You might want to refer to the diversity section on ThinkQuest Evaluation Criteria.
Acknowledgment - Give credits to people who have helped
Can't find a way to thank all the people who have helped make this website successful? The acknowledgment page will help you. Include the names of your benefactors and what they have kindly helped out in.
Disclaimer - What you cannot guarantee
Disclaimer is used to ensure that users do not come knocking at your door with a lawyer if they find any information inaccurate or objectional, or if something happened because they followed some instructions which led to an accident or something of that sort.
An example of a short disclaimer clause can be as follows (from the e-Divide: Information Inequality sitea>):
"Terms of Use | : 2005 - 2006 e-Divide Team. All rights reserved.
e-Divide team is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
All external links accurate as of March 1, 2006 "
Or a longer disclaimer notice example at the Patent Wars on AIDS Drugs site.
Go on and decide what is best for your team.
Depending on the theme of your website, you would want to include a short description of your aims and objectives. What is your motivation for your topic? Does it bridge cultural divides or discuss a crucial social issue? This is where you can identify your target audience, who you want to reach out to, and what impact you want to make after they have visited your website.
Another thing you might want to do is to help your readers make better use of your website. Tell them how they can make use of its special features. For example, in our very own TQ Toolkit website, we have checkboxes at the end of each section to help ThinkQuesters check what they have done and what they might have left out. It will be pointless to have these features if nobody understands how to use them. You can place a link to this features page on your homepage to guide readers who are lost.