Referencing correctly and
avoiding plagiarism
Understanding the School’s requirements
This session will cover:
• Understanding references (to
journal articles, books, book
chapters, reports, web pages etc.)
• Citing and referencing – how to do
it right
• Plagiarism – what it is and how to
avoid it (with a worked example)
• How the School detects plagiarism
Further sources of information
• Detailed further guidance
on everything covered in
this session is available in
the Academic Writing
handbook.
• This has lots in it – but
you should be able to ‘dip
in’ to find any specific
guidance you need.
Understanding references
Understanding references
Journal articles
Creese A et al. (2002) Cost-effectiveness of HIV/AIDS
interventions in Africa: a systematic review of the
evidence. The Lancet 359: 1635-1642.
Understanding references
Books
Hahn, R. (1999) Anthropology in Public Health.
Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Understanding references
Book chapters
Collier, S.J. and A. Ong (2005). Chapter 1:
Global assemblages, anthropological
problems. Global Assemblages. Technology,
Politics, and Ethics as Anthropological
Problems. A. Ong and S.J. Collier. Oxford,
Blackwell: 3-21.
Understanding references
Reports
Statistics for Wales (2008). Health statistics
Wales 2008. Welsh Assembly Government.
Understanding references
Web pages and online documents
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB).
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta GA; April
2010 [online: accessed 27 September 2010];
www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/drtb/m
drtb.htm
Exercise/examples
What type of source documents do the following refer to?
• National Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2001. Guidance on the use
of orlistat for the treatment of obesity in adults, [online], NICE,
London. Accessed 11 October 2006.
www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?a=15724
• Cook G. Manson’s tropical diseases. 21st ed. London: WB Saunders.
2003.
• Bach, S. Migration patterns of physicians and nurses: still the same
story? Bull World Health Organ. 2004;82(8):624-5.
• Reeves, M., Rosas, L. "Nobody told me they were harmful":
pesticide exposure and the health of women farm workers. In:
Jacobs, M., Dinham, B., editors. Silent invaders: pesticides,
livelihoods and women's health. London: Zed Books; 2003. p. 16-30.
Citing and referencing
– how to do it right
Citing and referencing
The School requires that your written work should:
i.
Acknowledge the work of others wherever you
make use of it.
ii. Present these acknowledgements in a
consistent way, using a recognised citation
system.
iii. Include a detailed reference list at the end.
Citing and referencing
(i) Acknowledging the work of others
• You must give a reference
whenever you: quote directly
from a source, paraphrase, use
ideas or material from others,
etc.
• This includes all kinds of sources: printed materials
like books or journal articles; electronic information
like webpages or emails; images, graphs and tables;
recorded or spoken information; etc.
Citing and referencing
(ii) Using a recognised citation system
• Always present references in a standard style.
• This determines how you write both in-text
citations and the reference list at the end.
• Whichever system you use should apply
throughout your piece of work – do not ‘mix
and match’ different referencing styles.
• The two most common styles are Harvard
(author/date) and Vancouver (numbering).
Citing and referencing
In the Harvard style, the author's surname and
year of publication should be quoted in the text.
e.g.
• "as confirmed by Abrams (1969)"
• "as confirmed by another study (Gillespie et
al. 1983)”
Citing and referencing
In the Vancouver style, each citation should be
numbered sequentially in the text, either in
brackets or as a superscript.
e.g.
• “ as confirmed by Abrams (3) ”
• “ as confirmed by another study 4 ”
Citing and referencing
(iii) Giving a formal reference list
• Full details about everything you cite should
be given in a reference list (sometimes called a
bibliography) – at the end of your work.
• This should give sufficient details to enable a
reader to look up the original source material.
• The referencing style you use will determine
how the list is ordered, and the precise
information you need to give.
Citing and referencing
• In the Harvard style, the reference list at the
end should be arranged by alphabetical order
of the first author's name
• An example (for a journal article) would be:
Ganapati R., Naik S.S., Acharekar M.Y. and Pade
S.S. (1976) ‘Leprosy endemicity in Bombay: an
assessment through surveys of municipal schools’,
Leprosy Review 47: 127 – 31.
Citing and referencing
• In the Vancouver style, the reference list at
the end should give references in numerical
order, i.e. the order they appear in the text.
• An example (for a journal article) would be:
2. Ganapati R, Naik SS, Acharekar MY and Pade
SS. Leprosy endemicity in Bombay: an assessment
through surveys of municipal schools. Leprosy
Review 1976; 47: 127-31.
Plagiarism –
what it is and how to avoid it
What is plagiarism?
LSHTM definition:
• Plagiarism is the copying or use of the work of
others, whether intentionally or
unintentionally, as if it were your own. Such
work may come from any source whether
published or unpublished, in print or online –
including words, images, audio recordings,
diagrams, formulae, computer code,
performances, ideas, judgements, discoveries
and results.
What else must I avoid?
In addition to plagiarism, the School defines
other ‘assessment irregularities’ you must avoid.
These include:
• Collusion – unacknowledged collaboration with
others
• Personation – someone else doing ‘your’ work
• Fraud – fabricating, falsifying or omitting information
• Cheating – any deliberate attempt to deceive in
order to gain advantage in assessments
How to avoid committing plagiarism
• Always acknowledge anywhere you use other
people’s work (or even your own past work).
• Always use a standard referencing style.
• Quotations should be clearly identified (with “quote”
marks), with a reference to the author(s).
• Paraphrasing (using your own words to express the
ideas or judgements of others) must also
acknowledge the original author(s).
• Where you have worked collaboratively, always note
the involvement and input of others.
Plagiarism: a worked example
Original text:
One of the most important issues that remain
controversial is whether 6 months of treatment with
regimens that include rifampin can effectively and
safely treat HIV-related tuberculosis.
(El-Sadr WM, Perlman DC, Denning E, Matts JP, Cohn DL. A review of efficacy
studies of 6-month short-course therapy for tuberculosis among patients infected
with human immunodeficiency virus: differences in study outcomes. Clin Infect Dis
2001;32:623-32.)
Good…
GOOD: direct quotation with citation
Here is the original text, within quotation marks,
followed by a citation to the authors.
“One of the most important issues that remain
controversial is whether 6 months of treatment
with regimens that include rifampin can
effectively and safely treat HIV-related
tuberculosis” (El-Sadr et al, 2001).
GOOD: paraphrasing with citation
You may paraphrase the original text or idea in
your own words, without quoting directly – but
if so, you must always clearly cite the source.
There remains debate as to whether HIV-related
tuberculosis can be treated with short course
regimens that include rifampin (El-Sadr et al. 2001).
Bad…
BAD: direct quotation without indication
The following would not be acceptable, because
the word-for-word quotation is not indicated by
inverted commas:
One of the most important issues that remain
controversial is whether 6 months of treatment with
regimens that include rifampin can effectively and
safely treat HIV-related tuberculosis (El-Sadr et al,
2001).
BAD: tiny changes to text
Just changing a few words is insufficient . The following is not
paraphrased in new words, just edited very slightly:
One of the key issues that remains controversial is whether 6
months of treatment with regimens that include rifampin can
effectively treat HIV-related TB (El-Sadr et al, 2001).
Compare this to the original:
One of the most important issues that remain controversial is
whether 6 months of treatment with regimens that include
rifampin can effectively and safely treat HIV-related
tuberculosis.
(El-Sadr WM, Perlman DC, Denning E, Matts JP, Cohn DL. A review of efficacy studies of 6month short-course therapy for tuberculosis among patients infected with human
immunodeficiency virus: differences in study outcomes. Clin Infect Dis 2001;32:623-32.)
Worse…
BAD: quotation without citation
Presenting a quote without inverted commas to
indicate it is a quotation, and without a citation
to indicate the authors, is clear plagiarism:
One of the most important issues that remain
controversial is whether 6 months of treatment with
regimens that include rifampin can effectively and
safely treat HIV-related tuberculosis.
BAD: paraphrasing without citation
Editing or paraphrasing someone else’s specific
words or ideas, then presenting them without a
citation to indicate the authors, is also
plagiarism:
There is debate concerning the use of short-course
regimens to treat tuberculosis in people
with HIV infection.
Summary
 Good:
• Identical text, with quote marks, with citation
• Re-worded text, no quote marks, with citation
 Bad:
• Identical text, no quote marks (even if a citation is given)
• Tiny changes to text , no quote marks (even if a citation is
given)
• Identical text, no quote marks, no citation
• Re-worded text, no quote marks, no citation
How the School detects
plagiarism
LSHTM procedures
• All markers are asked to be on the
lookout for potential plagiarism.
• The School also uses the plagiarism
detection service Turnitin UK to
check student work.
• Rigorous (and clear and fair)
procedures are in place to investigate
and reach a judgement where
plagiarism is suspected.
Detecting plagiarism
The report on the following page shows text
matched by Turnitin against original sources.
What do you notice?
Detecting plagiarism
Last tips to avoid plagiarism
1. Leave enough time to find and read the
information you need
2. Use clear note taking techniques
3. Reference all your sources
Take care!