Academic Skills Advice
Activity
Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism
Exercise 1: Is a reference needed?
When is a reference necessary in an assignment? Tick whether a reference is needed or not in the following situations.
Situation / Yes / No- When quoting someone directly from a website.
- When using statistics or other data that is freely available from an encyclopedia or reference book.
- When summarising the cause of past events, where there is agreement by most commentators on cause and effect.
- When paraphrasing a definition found on a website, where no writer, editor or author’s name is shown.
- When summarising the ideas of a particular author, which have been paraphrased by another person.E.g., when author A paraphrases what author B has said.
- When summarising in your concluding paragraph what you discussed and referenced earlier in your text.
- When including photographs or graphics that are freely available on the Internet, where no named photographer or originator is shown.
- When paraphrasing an idea you have read that you feel makes an important contribution to the points made in your assignment.
Exercise 2: where should the citations go?
A citation is the author(s) last name and year of publication, (or reference number if using Vancouver referencing) that you place in the text of your assignment to identify the source used. E.g. (Handy 2014). These citations should connect with the full detail of the source contained in the alphabetical list of references at the end of the assignment.
E.g., the following essay paragraph contains two citations that help the reader to identify the source of the definition used (i.e. Coleman and Chiva2011) and the ideas presented (i.e. Hopson and Scaly 2009).
Now look at the following assignment extracts and decide if a citation is necessary, and, if so, where it should go. Mark the relevant point in the text with a X.
- Commentators have linked Communication Apprehension (CA) to feelings of loneliness, isolation, low self-esteem and the inability to discuss personal problems with others. The reason for this is obvious, in that the behavioural response of people with CA is to avoid or discourage interaction with others.
- Climatologists generally agree that the five warmest years since the late nineteenth century have been within the decade 1995-2005, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ranking 2005 as the second warmest year behind 1998.
- It has been argued that federalism is a way of making sense of large organisations and that the power and responsibility that drives federalism is a feature of developed societies and can be extended into a way forward for managing modern business because “…it has been designed to create a balance of power within an institution. It matches paradox with paradox”.
Exercise 3: “I didn’t cite the source because…”
Below are six statements that might be made by students for not citing and referencing a particular source in an assignment.
Imagine you are a tutor and match the likely response to the statement (see page 4).
Statements“I didn’t cite the source because…” / Response Number:
- … I listed all the sources in the reference list instead.
- … I found this theory on a Wiki Internet site; anyone can contribute to these and no author is named.
- …the statistics were taken from a government website - there for the whole world to see and use.
- …it just gave me ideas to use in my assignment; I changed most of words in the article to my own.
- …it was from a tutor handout; everyone in class was given a copy.
- …no author or writer’s name was shown on the website.
Tutor Responses
Match each of the previous statements with the appropriate tutor response, from the list below.
- If no named author or writer is shown, you should cite and reference the name of the originator of the source.This can be the name of an organisation.
- Readers need to match in-text citations with the full details of sources in a list of references. This enables readers to find and use the sources for themselves, if required.
- The source of all data like this must be fully cited and referenced, even if they are openly accessible.
- It is advisable to use academic sources (e.g. text books and journal articles)wherever possible.Primary sources, in this example the original theory, should be used as secondary sources may not be reliable. However, if you do use a secondary source, it needs to be properly cited in the body of your work and referenced.
- Any source that has made a significant contribution to your assignment must be fully cited and referenced. By doing this you acknowledge the part another person has played in the development of your own ideas (rather than claiming the ideas are all original and your own).
- This came from work produced by someone else, not by you, and so must be acknowledged. It also contributes to the reader’s understanding of terms you have used in your assignment and so needs to be properly referenced.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the practice of knowingly using another person’s work and claiming it, directly or indirectly, as your own.
This is work that is accessible to others in a tangible way, e.g. written in printed or electronic forms, or presented to others in some public way, including audio/visual or graphic formats, or in dramatic/music/dance performances.
Exercise 1: Is it Plagiarism?
Which of these scenarios do you think would be regarded as plagiarism by most universities in Britain? Tick either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
- You see a useful article in a newspaper that will be helpful in your assignment. You copy 40 per cent of the words from this source, and substitute 60 per cent of your own words. You don’t include a citation or reference, as the journalist or writer’s name is not shown.
- You summarise a point taken from a course handout that presents an overview of the work of others. You do not reference the handout, as it is just for the limited use of the students on the course.
- You are part of a study group of six students. An individual essay assignment has been set by a tutor. Each member of the group researches and writes a section of the essay. The work is collated and written by one student and all the group members individually submit this collective and collated work.
- You include the expression ‘Children should be seen and not heard’ in your essay without a reference to a source.
- You overhear a conversation between two students, both known to you, discussing a subject of interest to you for an assignment you have to write. One student makes some interesting points which
- Your command of written English is not as good as you would like it to be. So you explain to another student what you want to say in an essay – all your own ideas - and that student writes it for you, and you then submit it.
Exercise 2: More Plagiarism?
Read the following extract from a journal article. Then look at the four examples which attempt to paraphrase the information from the extract for an assignments. Decide which, if any of these, would amount to plagiarism.
The extract
Source:
Yang, D. and Clarke, P. (2004) Review of the current intellectual property system in China.International Journal Technology Transfer and Commercialisation 3 (1), 12-37.
Example 1
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue.
For thousands of years, outsiders have regarded China as xenophobic. However, the stereotypes have been changing since China opened up its economy in 1979. Now, the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international technology transfer (ITT) is at the centre of economic relations between foreign countries and China. The global flows of capital, information and technology have helped the economic growth of China and the influence of multinational enterprises (MNEs). The boom in FDI and ITT has brought to the forefront the issue of intellectual property rights (IPRs) as a major topic in the economic development of China. Although history shows that the germination of the concept of IPRs in China goes back more than 100 years, in reality no effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP) existed until very recent times.
Is this plagiarism? Yes No
Example 2
Outsiders have long regarded China as a xenophobic country. However, the stereotypes have been changing since China opened up its economy in 1979. Yang and Clarke (2004) argue that now the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international technology transfer (ITT) lies at the heart of economic relations between foreign countries and China. They state
“The international flows of capital, information and technology facilitate the economic growth of China and the influence of multinational enterprises (MNEs). The boom in FDI and ITT has brought to the fore the issue of intellectual property rights (IPRs) as a major topic in the economic development of China” (p.12).
Although a historical review shows that the germination of the concept of IPRs in China goes back more than 100 years, in reality no effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP) existed until very recent times.
Is this plagiarism? Yes No
Example 3
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue. For centuries China has been regarded by the outside world as a rather closed and insular country. However, Yang and Clarke (2004) argue that now things are changing, and particularly so since 1979, when China decided to open up its economy. Since then, foreign direct investment (FDI) and international technology transfer (ITT) are important connecting links between China and the rest of the world. Now the flows of capital, information, technology and the influence of multinational enterprises MNEs have stimulated the Chinese economy. But these developments have also caused attention to focus on the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR). Although the concept of IPR goes back more than a hundred years, there has been no effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP) until recently.
Is this plagiarism? Yes No
Example 4
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue. For centuries China has been regarded by the outside world as a rather closed and xenophobic country. However things are changing. Since 1979, China has loosened opened and stimulated its economy by foreign direct investment (FDI), international technology transfer (ITT) - and from the influence of multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, these developments have also focused attention on the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) and until recently in China there has been no effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP).
Is this plagiarism? Yes No
Answers and comments
Referencing
Exercise 1: Is a Reference Needed?
Situation / Yes / No- When quoting someone directly from a website.
- When using statistics or other data that is freely available from an encyclopedia or reference book.
- When summarising the cause of past events, where there is agreement by most commentators on cause and effect.
- When paraphrasing a definition found on a website, where no writer, editor or author’s name is shown.
- When summarising the ideas of a particular author, but which have been paraphrased by another person. E.g., when author A paraphrases what author B has said.
- When summarising in your concluding paragraph what you discussed and referenced earlier in your text.
- When including photographs or graphics that are freely available on the Internet, where no named photographer or originator is shown.
- When paraphrasing an idea you have read that you feel makes an important contribution to the points made in your assignment
Exercise 2: Where should the citations go?
1. Commentators X have linked communication apprehension (CA) to feelings of loneliness, isolation, low self-esteem and the inability to discuss personal problems with others. The reason for this is obvious, in that the behavioural response of people with CA is to avoid or discourage interaction with others.
Comment: The above extract refers to ‘commentators’, so you need to cite at least two sources/commentators. E.g. ‘Commentators, for example, Daly and Stafford (2014), and McCroskey, Daly, Richmond and Falcione (2010), have linked communication apprehension…’ etc. The citation could also have been located at the end of the first sentence. The important point is that you need to make the connection between statement and source citation as obvious and clear as possible.
2. Climatologists generally agree that the five warmest years since the late nineteenth century have been within the decade 1995-2005, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ranking 2005 as the second warmest year behind 1998 X.
Comment: The sources of all statistics and information originating from named sources, such as the NOAA and WMO, should always be fully referenced.
3.It has been argued that federalism is a way of making sense of large organisations and
that the power and responsibility that drives federalism is a feature of developed societies and can be extended into a way forward for managing modern business because “…it has been designed to create a balance of power within an institution. It matches paradox with paradox” X.
Comment: If you use the term, “It has been argued…” you need to cite who has presented the argument. As a quotation is included to emphasise the first half of the sentence, there is an assumption here that the source of the argument and quotation are the same. So you can show the source of the argument and quotation – providing they are from the same source – immediately after the quotation.
If the quotation is taken from a printed source, show the page number, as well as the author’s name and year of publication, as this helps others to easily locate the quotation in the source cited, e.g. (Handy 2014: 98).
Exercise 3: “I didn’t cite the source because…”
Statements“I didn’t cite the source because…” / Response number:
- …I listed all the sources in the reference list instead.
Readers need to match in-text citations with the full details of sources in a list of references. This enables readers to find and use the sources for themselves, if required.
- …I found this theory on a Wiki Internet site; anyone can contribute to these and no author is named.
It is advisable to use academic sources (e.g. text books and journal articles) wherever possible. Primary sources, in this example the original theory, should be used as secondary sources may not be reliable. However, if you do use a secondary source, it needs to be properly cited in the body of your work and referenced.
- …the statistics were taken from a government website - there for the whole world to see and use.
The source of all data like this must be fully cited and referenced, even if they are openly accessible.
- …it just gave me ideas to use in my assignment; I changed most of words in the article to my own.
Any source that has made a significant contribution to your assignment must be fully cited and referenced. By doing this you acknowledge the part another person has played in the development of your own ideas (rather than claiming the ideas are all original and your own).
- …it was from a tutor handout; everyone in class was given a copy.
This came from work produced by someone else, not by you, and so must be acknowledged. It also contributes to the reader’s understanding of terms you have used in your assignment and so needs to be properly referenced.
- …no author or writer’s name was shown on the website.
If no named author or writer is shown, you should cite and reference the name of the originator of the source. This can be the name of an organisation.
Plagiarism
Exercise 1: Is it Plagiarism?
Yes No
- You see a useful article in a newspaper that will be helpful in your assignment. You copy 40 per cent of the words from this source and substitute 60 per cent of your own words. You don’t include a citation or reference, as the journalist or writer’s name is not shown.
- You summarise a point taken from a course handout that presents an overview of the work of others. You do not reference the handout, as it is just for the limited use of the students on the course.
circulated to others, albeit a specialist readership. You need to
acknowledge the source in your assignment. /
- You are part of a study group of six students. An individual essay assignment has been set by a tutor. Each member of the group researches and writes a section of the essay. The work is collated and written by one student and all the group members individually submit this collective and collated work.
- You include the expression ‘Children should be seen and not heard’ in your essay without a reference to a source.
However, if you were able to identify the period of origin of an expression, you could mention this, e.g., ‘Children should be seen and not heard’ (15th Century British proverb). /
- You overhear a conversation between two students, both known to you, discussing a subject of interest to you for an assignment you have to write. One student makes some interesting points which you make a note of and later use the unreferenced ideas in your assignment.
- Your command of written English is not as good as you would like it to be. You explain to another student what you want to say in an essay – all your own ideas – and that student writes it for you, and you then submit it.
Exercise 2: More Plagiarism?