Hello.
That is something I thought I wouldn't have to make a topic about, since I thought it was fairly resolved back in August/September when I was noticing this, but apparantly it didn't help that much.
But apparantly, there are multiple users who don't think that it is necessary to add a source to their uploads, the post where this issue came back was post #2572099 where I asked what the source is of that upload.
And evazion found the source pretty easy with this tool and it is also suggested that one should always add a source to their uploads in the howto:upload wiki. If the source can't be remembered that one should use the extension that evazion used to find the post. If all that doesn't help, then it should be mandatory to add source_request to the upload. But to leave the source field just blank isn't that good, but there might be some exception where the source can't be easil determined, like image boards or Patreon rewards.

Anyways, sourcing uploads is pretty important, since we are a reposting site.

I have to agree with you. Maybe this could be yet another User Report entry ;) And whenever a user doesn't include a source they should at the very least leave a comment explaining how they found the picture so someone else can show how to source it.

As for using tools like SauceNAO I don't think that's enough. You need to make sure the MD5's are the same!

I suggested in another thread that the source request functionality should be automated whenever there's no source (topic #12965).

For Patreon rewards? I guess leaving the source blank is okay. There is however a non-public URL for the patron-only post that will be useless to everyone but the uploader more likely than not since Patron content creators are savvy to the fact people try to become a patron, download content, and unpatron. To mitigate this they send out rewards after the billing cycle to confirmed benefactors. I'm not sure however about the ethical and copyright considerations of posting Patreon rewards even though I did this a few times. I'd err on the side of asking for explicit permission...

Source links should only be required if the source is publicly accessible and is a non-expiring link (so no image boards).

Source text could otherwise be added, such as for scans of artist material or a general indication where the image came from, e.g. "4Chan Image Board", "So-and-so's Patron Rewards", etc.

The only excuse for not posting a source would be if there is an image that is uploaded from a user's computer that they have no idea where it was downloaded from, and none of the Reverse Image search engines provide any insight.

Postscript:

Those that do and do not include sources with their uploads IS tracked via both Albert's and my reports via the Source/Src columns. If that number is not equal to the Total column, then the difference between the two is the number of uploads from that user that did not include a source.

BrokenEagle98 said:

The only excuse for not posting a source would be if there is an image that is uploaded from a user's computer that they have no idea where it was downloaded from, and none of the Reverse Image search engines provide any insight.

And if that doesn't work: Source_request
And if the source is from, something like exhentai, then this user has access to it and should also source the image with it.

Provence said:

And if that doesn't work: Source_request
And if the source is from, something like exhentai, then this user has access to it and should also source the image with it.

Ah yes, that's right. Forgot to mention source request, but that should always be added if the source is not provided for whatever reason.

Regarding Exhentai, it would be preferable if the link to the g-hentai version of the gallery was used instead, as it is more publicly accessible and avoids the sad panda... The only galleries where this wouldn't apply would be loli and shota, since those only exist on Exhentai...

BrokenEagle98 said:

Source links should only be required if the source is publicly accessible and is a non-expiring link (so no image boards).

Source text could otherwise be added, such as for scans of artist material or a general indication where the image came from, e.g. "4Chan Image Board", "So-and-so's Patron Rewards", etc.

The only excuse for not posting a source would be if there is an image that is uploaded from a user's computer that they have no idea where it was downloaded from, and none of the Reverse Image search engines provide any insight.

Postscript:

Those that do and do not include sources with their uploads IS tracked via both Albert's and my reports via the Source/Src columns. If that number is not equal to the Total column, then the difference between the two is the number of uploads from that user that did not include a source.

Is there any reason not to include 4chan/image boards links even though they expire? Many of these boards are archived. People with user scripts like 4chan X upon clicking an expired link may be redirected to an archive of the thread which can include valuable info like a poster's tripcode or links to their accounts.

I am in favor of keeping the thread URL, not gutting this important information. Maybe those sources can periodically be updated to the preferred archive of that board since that is subject to change.

It's been a while since I've visited an image board, but if there is a way to keep the source link viable, then I see no reason why that couldn't be used.

Isn't that already somehow done with some of hater_(hatater) uploads? Most of those images are from an (russian) imageboard.

I can guarantee you that if I don't put in a source, it's because it came from my computer, or is a scan from the now-defunct animepapers.net. If it came from a Japanese imageboard I will source it as plaintext Imageboard due to the nature of their purging images regularly.

Not even a search with the tool mentioned above and that evazion used for your upload (which was from a public page like g.e-hentai.org.
And the imageboard should probably be replaced with its name then, I think.

Provence said:

Not even a search with the tool mentioned above and that evazion used for your upload (which was from a public page like g.e-hentai.org.
And the imageboard should probably be replaced with its name then, I think.

I don't use tools with Danbooru, because at the time of their implementation they were nonfunctional at best, and I lost faith in them. Everything is done by hand where it's not automated by Danbooru itself. And might I remind you that that image had been on my hard drive for 3 years, and GIS returned nothing.

Yeah, if GIS and SauceNao fail, then it's pretty much game over...

Then there is always source request as mentioned above. That is exactly the case when this tag should be used.
But before that one should use those tools.

I did a few test runs with the Saucenao website and it's fairly decent now (It was pretty shit a few years ago), though it has the problem of only returning English titles instead of the Japanese ones, which are more universal.

Also there's sadpanda's reverse image search, but that tends to work very very spotty unless it's an exact match.

On that note, does anyone think we should have a help page for helping find the source for entries? Like where we can compile all the useful websites and tools some of us use? Only one that comes to mind right now is the official saucenao extensions, Google Image Search, IQDB… but there could be more.

Coincidentally, the SauceNao extensions include both IQDB and GIS as search options, among a few others...

But a wiki page could be useful... perhaps help:source finding...?

Would be great.
With that, we can remove a bit "junk" from the howto:upload wiki and make it less bloated.
So I agree with creating such a wiki.

e-hentai isn't a valid source, though. topic #11093

Listing other repost sites as a source is both erroneous and defeats the purpose of listing sources. It would be like listing danbooru as the source for a picture when you can't find it's real source.

Isn't that what pools are for?
Like, if you talk about a doujin scan: Use the Doujin's title and create the pool. That is not the same as the source.

Evazion has quite a point there in my opinion.