Academic Writing:
Referencing
Correctly
Marian Butler
Student Services
What should a uni essay do?
Develop an argument
Base argument on “the experts”
(Your response to the question)
Referencing
Demonstrate critical thinking
Plus/advantages/benefits of ideas
Minus/disadvantages/problems with ideas
In your essay
Referencing shows:
•Who you have
read (author)
•What they had to
say (point)
•Where you found
that source (book,
journal article etc)
•When the source
was written (date)
Author
Date
Smith (2009, p. 84)
argues that developing
nations need to be
freed from national
debt.
OR
Developing nations need to be
freed from national debt (Smith
2009, p. 84).
Title of book (italicised or underlined)
Smith, DP 2009, Debt and development, Harper Rowe, New York.
In the
reference list
Publisher
Place of
publication
Referencing is for:
Your benefit
To show off what
you have read!
To add authority and
credibility to your
argument
Reader’s benefit
To understand the context
of your work
To allow your reader to
track down your research
There are also ethical
reasons:
Important to:
Respect
To distinguish between:
Intellectual property (ideas/creativity)
Your ideas
Someone else’s ideas
Value others’ intellectual property
Legal implications
What should be referenced?
Anything not your own:
ideas
definitions
information
results
opinions
diagrams, graphs,
tables
pictures, video clips
power points
Even your ideas that
another author also
has
From any source
whether:
summarised
paraphrased or
directly quoted
But…..
No need to reference common knowledge.
Your opinions based on the facts that you
have read.
What is common knowledge?
As general rules of thumb:
You did not know it before you read?
NOT common knowledge
Most of your classmates would know it?
Probably IS common knowledge.
Examples of common knowledge
Which of the following are common knowledge?
The first fleet arrived in Australia in 1788.
Yes (for someone who grew up in Australia)
Driver fatigue is well recognised as a cause of accidents.
Yes: from driver safety campaigns on TV.
Alkaloids are the most important biochemical components
of Areca Nuts.
Not for the general public, but possibly for food
biochemists. This should be cited.
Women who enrol in postgraduate studies are at greater
risk of late completion than men.
Probably not.
Expressing opinions about texts
Use tentative language
It seems likely that….
It is possible….
Given the evidence, it could be the case that…
This could mean…….
Brown (2009, p. 45) argues that attending lectures is
important for success at university. Thus it seems
likely that first year students who are encouraged to
attend, will do better in their studies than those who
do not attend.
How do I reference?
Many systems in use
UQ no exception
The most common:
I am using Harvard for
examples in this
presentation
Harvard system (author date and page in the text)
Check with your faculty, school, subject
Use guides and course profiles
Check library home page
Another word for referencing is citing
A citation (or reference) in the text is where you refer
to an author
It may be in the form of a direct quote or it may be
a paraphrase of an author or a summary
Direct quotes should be used sparingly
When you refer to an author, it is wise to explain
his/her position and critique/comment on it
Example:
Brown (2009, p. 55)
argues that
globalisation has
resulted in poverty in
developing countries.
Similarly, Jones (2007,
p 5) explains that
poverty has been on
the increase over the
past ten years.
According to Brent
(2006), this is evident in
Janoa…
Brown (2009, p. 55) and
Jones (2007, p. 5) both
claim that poverty has
increased as a result of
globalisation, particularly
according to Jones, over
the last ten years. Case
studies by authors such as
Brent (2006) who evaluated
the situation in Janoa
confirm the views of Jones
and Brown. It seems
important that developed
countries, who may be in a
position to fight poverty in
developing countries, take
some initiative in solving
this problem.
Direct quoting
Exact words from a source = direct quote:
Quotes are not included in your word count
Limit quotes to clever quotes
Longer quotes are indented and single spaced, eg:
‘….the long lasting negative effects of discrimination can be forestalled’
(Elliot, Pedersen & Morgan 1997, p.42).
The dispute ended in the victory of management who
succeeded in introducing a more cost efficient system despite
the opposition of the technical staff.
(Goodall 2010, p.66).
Note the full stops, commas and brackets!
Omissions from Quotations
Leaving out words in a quote?
Use three dots with a space at either end
Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting as one's
own original work the ideas, interpretations,
words or creative works of another . … These
ideas, interpretations, words or works may be
found in print and/or electronic media.
(UQ Library 2008).
Additions to quotations
Inside the quote:
Use square [---] brackets
This shows your comment, explanation
[sic] shows your accuracy of transcription but an
error in the original
Use of italics indicates your emphasis of
words
Square bracket examples:
It is the “disparate
expectations of
language [which]
contribute to
misunderstanding
and confusion
between staff and
their students”
(Meyer, 2008, p.89).
… but plagiarism is
literary fraud whereby
‘one writer sets forth the
words or ideas of
another writer as his
[sic] own in order to get
gain’ (Hatch, 2007,
p.12).
Adding emphasis (italics) example
By including oracy in this discussion, I am
subscribing to the definition of literacy provided
by the federal Department of Employment,
Education and Training (DEET):
Literacy involves the integration of reading,
writing, listening, speaking and critical
thinking. It includes the knowledge which
enables a speaker, writer or reader to
recognise and use language appropriate to
different social situations (my italics)
(Dawkins, 1990, p.4).
In your essay, whenever you use an
author’s ideas, you must include:
His or her surname (not first name and then
surname) for example:
Brown (2009, p. 54) found that students with
high emotional intelligence performed well at
university NOT
James Brown (2009, p. 54) found that ….
x
Date of publication
Page if it can be traced to a page
Not the name of the book!
Paraphrasing
Parallel words
Can get you into trouble
‘National reports have detailed a serious shortage of artists
along with both long and short term strategies to address the
issue’ (Flynn 2003, p. 17).
Paraphrased:
According to Flynn
(2003) national
reports have outlined
a critical shortage of
artists as well as
short and long term
plans to address the
problem.
Problem?
Plagiarism?
‘National reports have detailed a serious shortage of artists
along with both long and short term strategies to address the
issue’ (Flynn 2003, p. 17).
Summarised:
Flynn (2003) claims
that there is a shortage
of artists at a nation
wide level which
government has dealt
with by means of short
and long term plans.
Better?
What is plagiarism?
The University of Queensland definition:
"Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting as one's
own original work the ideas, interpretations, words
or creative works of another. These include
published and unpublished documents, designs,
music, sounds, images, photographs, computer
codes and ideas gained through working in a group.
These ideas, interpretations, words or works may be
found in print and/or electronic media."
(UQ Library 2007).
You plagiarise when you:
Use another’s work and do not
reference the source, for example:
*
*
*
*
you copy
summarise/paraphrase without referencing
use/develop someone else’s idea
without referencing it
use experimental results without referencing
Always acknowledge the source of
your information
‘Students frequently overuse direct quotations in taking notes, and as a
result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only
about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter.
Therefore you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of
source materials while taking notes” (James 1976, pp. 46-7).
Plagiarised version
Students often use too many direct quotations when they take
notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper.
In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist
of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the source
material copied while taking notes.
How to avoid plagiarising:
Write without looking at the original
Use your own words and style of writing
Aim to keep the length similar or shorter
Capture the meaning of the original
‘Students frequently overuse direct quotations in taking notes,
and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research]
paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript
should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore you should
strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source
materials while taking notes” (James 1976, pp. 46-7).
Write your own summary:
The reference list
A list of all the works you have referred to
in your text
Is it a bibliography?
Do you need a bibliography and reference
list?
Keep all details of readings as you
research – saves searching later!
Information for reference list
Names of authors (family names and initials)
Name of journal article, chapter or conference
paper, etc.
Name of journal, book, conference, etc.
Date of publication
Volume and issue number (for journals)
Editor of book (if applicable)
Publisher (for books)
Place of publication (for books)
Page numbers (of article or book chapter )
Reference list
Separate page
Last page of the assignment
Includes ALL of the works you referred to in
your essay
Alphabetical order by author’s surname.
NOT usually numbered, except for numerical
referencing systems.
Author-date system: Book references
In the list of references:
Surname of author, comma then author’s initials
Year of publication then a comma
Name of book in italics (Capitals for first word only) then a comma
Publisher comma
Place of publication full stop
Example:
Jorges, T 1999, Creativity for university students, McGraw Hill, Brisbane.
In the body of the essay:
Author’s surname, year of publication and page
Example:
Jorges (1999, p. 35) argues that…..
Usually: no first
names, no titles in the
body of the essay
Referencing journals
In the body of the essay:
According to Lave (2008, p.
21)…..
………… (Lave 2008, p. 21)
In the list of references
Author’s surname, comma then author’s initials
Year of publication then comma
Name of journal article in inverted commas then a
comma
Name of journal in italics (caps firs letters) then a
comma
Volume number then a comma eg vol. 1,
Issue number or other identifier eg issue 2 or no. 2,
then a comma
Page nos eg pp. 24-32.
Example:
Lave, S 2008, ‘Ethnicity and music practice’, The Journal
of New World Music, vol. 3, no. 2, August, pp. 103-9.
A chapter, paper or article in an
edited book
In the body of your essay:
Rainer (2006)……..
Cite the author of the chapter or article not the author of
the book itself.
In the reference list:
Rainer, G 2006, ‘Caring for the elderly’ in MW Bron
(ed.), Geriatric handbook, HBJ, New York, pp. 1-12.
Secondary sources
You read Adams
Adams = Primary
source
In essay: give the author (secondary source)
as well as the primary source
Smith (2001, cited in Adams 2005) argues
that it is important………..
Adams read and cited Smith
Reference list:
Adams, AR 2005, Power plays: how to
maxmise power, Macmillan Australia,
Sydney.
Reference the primary source
Introducing authors in your essay
Jones (2005) shows that……..
Smith (2004) and Frost (1995) argue that..
Do not use
“says”
Greenway (2000, p. 46) offers this view:
According to Brown, Smith and Jones (2005)……
Gordon et al. (2010) assert…….
Bannister (2008) disagrees
Craigston’s (2009) research points to…….
Elderly patrons found theatre seats uncomfortable
(Rogers 2008; Sims 2009)
Use of tenses
Past tense for specific findings:
Corley (2005) found that 80% of arts grants
were spent on salaries
Present tense for theory and general discussion:
Smith (2007) argues that there are three
dominant stereotypes of creative people.
Referencing the internet
•
author, date of publication or update known?
use these as you would for other sources
•
author not known?
•
•
organisation unknown?
•
•
•
use title of the web page as author
do not use URL (web address) in body of essay
site is not dated?
•
•
use the organisation as author
use ‘nd’ for ‘no date’
in reference list
•
always include date you accessed the site
Examples of Internet references
Sherman, C n.d., The invisible web, Free Print Limited, UK, viewed 27 November
2007, <http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/080600.htm#feature>.
Fine, M & Kurdek, LA 1993, ‘Reflections on determining authorship credit
and authorship order on faculty-student collaborations’, American
Psychologist, vol. 48, pp.1141-7, viewed 12 January 2008,
<http://www.apa.org/journals/amp/kurdek.html>.
Cleary, P & Lewis, S 2001, 'It's the end of a long boom', The Australian Financial
Review, 8 March, viewed 8 March 2001,
<http://afr.com/australia/2001/03/08/FFXIM9PU0KC.html>.
The Body Shop Australia 2003, The Body Shop Australia, Mulgrave,
Victoria, viewed 31 January 2003, <http://www.thebodyshop.com.au/>.
Referencing help
Course outline or faculty guide
Ask your lecturer or tutor
Library website
Web-page on your required style
Ask a librarian
A final word
Record all the details of sources as you take
notes
Take note of the page numbers
Use one system consistently
Follow the rules – just do it!
Check the referencing when proof reading
Use your own words (amap)
Comment on sources