Referencing and Plagiarism

CSCI102 - Systems

ITCS905 - Systems

MCS9102 - Systems

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Academic Writing - Conventions

• Academic writing typically does not contain elements, such as

1. personal language

2. judgmental words

3. emotive language

• As a result it is characterised as impersonal and objective

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Academic Writing - Conventions

• Academic writing still requires you to develop an argument and express your opinion about issues

• By asking you essay questions such as:

– What do you think?

– Evaluate...

– Do you agree?

– Argue in favour of or against...

• These questions are seeking YOUR opinion

– What you think about a particular issue, event, or theory

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Academic Writing - Conventions

• Academic articles or books usually contain opinions in the form of:

– Interpretations of results

– Theories

– Evaluations

– Conclusions

– Hypotheses

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Academic Writing - Conventions

• In academic writing, arguments should

– Imply impartial and sound judgement

• Through the use of

– Rational, impersonal and unemotional language

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Academic Writing - Conventions• Another convention of academic writing is the

use of evidence to support the arguments being presented: – Arguments cannot be presented without supporting

evidence or they may sound as if they are just the writer's opinion

– This evidence cannot be anecdotal evidence but must be already published or known information presented by authorities in the field

– It must be integrated expertly into the structure of your overall argument

• Into your paragraphs and into your sentences

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Academic Writing - Conventions• Certain conventions in academic writing

dictate how this supporting evidence is cited or referenced

– These conventions ensure that readers of your work are clearly able to find and evaluate the sources of your evidence

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Integrating Evidence Into Your Own Writing• When integrating the evidence you've gathered into

your essay– First look at your essay plan to decide where evidence needs

to be placed in relation to the points you’re making

– Then you need to look at the particular paragraph in which a piece of evidence belongs to decide how it can be integrated

• Its role will be to support or expand on a point you've already made in your own words within that paragraph

• In the following paragraph notice that evidence has been– Paraphrased or directly quoted

– Placed in a position that allows it to extend the point the writer is making in the topic sentence

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One phenomenon that can impact greatly on the effectiveness of groups is that as group sizes increase there is a tendency for the effort put in by the group to be less than the average effort put in by individuals engaged on the same task separately (Gabrenya, Latane & Wang 1981; Albanese & Van Fleet 1985). The phenomenon has been described using various terms. Writers influenced by industrial economics describe it as the 'free-rider problem', where the collective nature of the 'contract' obscures the fact of one member failing to honour their part of the contract (Albanese & Van Fleet 1985: 230). Writers who are organisational psychologists tend to label the phenomenon as 'social loafing' and typically define it as "one where everyone puts in a little less" (Gabrenya, Latane & Wang 1981:120). Whatever the terminology used to describe this phenomenon, it is one that is problematic for groups.

Topic sentence

Expansion

integration of paraphrased material

integration of paraphrased and quoted material

summarising & transition to next paragraph

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One phenomenon that can impact greatly on the effectiveness of groups is that as group sizes increase there is a tendency for the effort put in by the group to be less than the average effort put in by individuals engaged on the same task separately (Gabrenya, Latane & Wang 1981; Albanese & Van Fleet 1985). The phenomenon has been described using various terms. Writers influenced by industrial economics describe it as the 'free-rider problem', where the collective nature of the 'contract' obscures the fact of one member failing to honour their part of the contract (Albanese & Van Fleet 1985: 230). Writers who are organisational psychologists tend to label the phenomenon as 'social loafing' and typically define it as "one where everyone puts in a little less" (Gabrenya, Latane & Wang 1981:120). Whatever the terminology used to describe this phenomenon, it is one that is problematic for groups.

Topic sentence

Expansion

integration of paraphrased material

integration of paraphrased and quoted material

summarising & transition to next paragraph

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The Role of Referencing

• Academic writers need to support their arguments with evidence

• Readers of academic writing need to evaluate the validity of that evidence

• A reference is the bracketed or footnoted piece of information that tells the reader where the supporting evidence used in academic writing comes from

• The role of the reference is twofold– Informs the reader of the source of your ideas so that he or

she can distinguish between your words and ideas and those of others

– Accurate referencing and lists of references are necessary to allow the reader to evaluate the information and read further into the area

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When to Reference• You should use a reference when you have included

an idea in your essay or report which is

– Not your own original idea

– Not common knowledge

• You must reference the idea whether

– You have presented the idea in the author's original words, as a quote

– You have paraphrased or summarised the author's idea into your own words

• You don't need to include a reference when the idea or concept is common knowledge in your discipline

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Direct and Indirect Quotations• There are no rules about how many indirect and direct

quotations you should use in your essay• It is generally agreed that the use of indirect quotation

(summaries and paraphrases) indicates a higher level of understanding

• Try to paraphrase and summarise where possible• Only use direct quotations when

– You cannot put the ideas into your own words

– Where the quotation has clever wording

– Where they are the exact words of some auspicious authority.

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How to Reference

• There are several referencing systems

• These differ in two ways

– Format of the references

– Location of the references

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How to Reference

• While lecturers may not agree on how they want assignments referenced, they do agree

– Acknowledging sources is extremely important

– Consistency in the referencing format you adopt is essential

• No matter what referencing system you adopt, you must use it consistently and correctly throughout your whole piece of writing

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How to Reference• In-text referencing

– Incorporates information on the author of the material cited and the date of publication within the body of the text

– Full bibliographic information for each of the sources referred to is provided in a reference list at the end of the assignment

– Advantage • The source of the information is immediately accessible for the reader

– Disadvantage • References may interrupt the flow of the text

– Examples• Harvard

• Author-date system

• APA (American Psychological Association)

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How to Reference• Notation system

– Places reference information • At the bottom of the page (footnotes)

• At the end of the text (endnotes)

– Advantage • This style does not disrupt the flow of the text

• Provide all the information for the source with the footnote unlike in-text references

– Disadvantage• Require the reader to look outside the body of the text for the reference

– Examples• IEEE system

• ACS (American Chemical Society)

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Quotations• Quotations are used to support the ideas you present

in your writing

– You do this to give your ideas or arguments authority

• There are two types of quotations

– Indirect

– Direct.

• Your aim should be to use this information to expand or extend upon your thesis point NOT to play the dominant role in the writing

• They must be incorporated into your argument.

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Indirect Quotes• An indirect quote is where you present an author's ideas in your

own words– Paraphrasing

– Summarising• When integrating an indirect quote into your essay

– Reference the sentence

– Even though it has been written in your own words, it is still someone else's idea

• Try to use indirect quotations more than direct quotations– This will indicate to the reader that you have

• Clearly understood the information

• Been able to integrate it smoothly into your argument.

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Paraphrase

• Paraphrasing is the process of rewriting someone else's idea(s) in your own words

• A paraphrase is usually around the same length as the original

• Beware of close paraphrasing

– Where you only change a couple of words and leave the rest in its original form

– You may risk being accused of plagiarism

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Summarising

• A summary is also an indirect quotation

– Much shorter than the original text

• A summary encapsulates the essence or main point of what the original author is arguing

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How do you summarise?

• Skim the text and gain the general impression of the information

– Content

– Relevance to your work

• Underline/ highlight the main points as you read

• Re-read the text

– Making notes of the main points

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How do you summarise?

• Cover the text and rewrite your notes in your own words

• Begin your summary

– Restate the main idea at the beginning of your summary

– Indicating where your information is from.

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How do you summarise?

• Mention other major points

– Change the order of the points if necessary to make the construction more logical

• Re-read the work to check that you have included all the important information clearly

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Direct Quotation

• Where you copy an author's words directly from the text and use that exact wording in your essay

• Try to use direct quotations sparingly

– Only use them when they are focused precisely on the point you want to make

– Are both brief and telling

– Where the substance/ wording of the quote is what you wish to address

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Direct Quotation

• When directly quoting, remember the following points:

– for a short quotation, use quotation marks " " to indicate that these are the words of another

– In fact, Rumelhart suggests that schemata "truly are the building blocks of cognition" (1981: 33).

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Direct Quotation• For quotations longer than three lines

– Take a new line and indent the quote to separate it from the main text

– In this case you do not require quotation marks

– In fact, Rumelhart suggests that schematatruly are the building blocks of cognition. They are the fundamental elements upon which all information processing depends. Schemata are employed in the process of interpreting sensory data (both linguistic and non linguistic), in retrieving information from memory, in organising actions, in determining goals and subgoals, in allocating resources, and generally, in guiding the flow of processing in the system (1981: 33-34).

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Direct Quotation - Tips• When referencing the quote include the page

number from which it was taken• Ensure that the grammar of the quote is

consistent with the grammar of your sentence• To omit words from the original quote use

three period marks ... to indicate that you have removed certain phrases or words

• To add words to the original quote use square brackets [ ]

• To indicate a grammatical or spelling error in the original quote place (sic) after the error

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Converting

• Direct quotes to indirect quotes

• Many students use direct quotes when,

– They could be paraphrasing or summarising

– and impressing their lecturer with their ability to understand and interpret information

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Converting

• You should try to paraphrase and summarise where possible

• In the drafting stages of your essay, if you find you have quite a few direct quotations, try to convert them to a summary or a paraphrase.

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References• Colby, J. (August 6 2004), Essential Harvard Referencing, Available at

http://www.cie.uce.ac.uk/essential/harvard/index.html• Curtin University of Technology (6 August 2004), APA Referencing,

Available at http://lisweb.curtin.edu.au/referencing/apa.html• Dawson, R. (2003a) Living networks : leading your company,

customers, and partners in the hyper-connected economy, Financial Times/ Prentice Hall,, Upper Saddle River, NJ :.

• Dawson, R. (2003b) (Ed, Figs\02fig01.gif, C. L. I. D.) Financial Times/ Prentice Hall,, Upper Saddle River, NJ :.

• Dawson, R. (August 6 2004), Living networks : leading your company, customers, and partners in the hyper-connected economy, Available at http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/0130353337

• Dawson, R. (2003d) Living networks [electronic resource] : leading your company, customers, and partners in the hyper-connected economy, Financial Times/ Prentice Hall,, Upper Saddle River, NJ :.

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References• Hourigan, P. (2001) "Master of your own Domain" in

Software: Software Engineering Australia (SEA) Journal, September 2001, 36-37.

• Lehigh University Libraries (August 6 2004), ACS Style Sheet, Available at http://www.lehigh.edu/library/footnote/acs.shtml

• Thompson ISI Research Soft (2003) EndNote• University of Illinois (August 6 2004), Reference

Guide IEEE Style, Available at http://www.ece.uiuc.edu/pubs/ref_guides/ieee.html

• University of Wollongong (6 August 2004), Unilearning, Available at http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/main.html