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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/10097
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I see [tinyURL](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TinyURL) recommended for news or magazine-style writing where AP style prevails--but then I see online warnings that clicking a tinyURL may take readers to sites they do not (at all) want to visit. I'm writing source-rich articles on such topics as polar bears, global warming, and hydraulic fracturing. If I use such in-line attributions as "According to the Polar Bear Specialist Group of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)" my text quickly becomes unreadable. Long URLs attached to every line containing a fact from a different online source--that is, attached to nearly every line--present the same problem.

I thought tinyURL might offer a solution--but now apparently spammers are using tinyURLs to hijack readers.

I will appreciate any advice on how to cite sources responsibly (and allow readers to confirm facts I am presenting) without producing cluttered, hard-to-read text. Thanks in advance.

Original score: 3