Certificate IV Public Relations
Develop public relations documents BSBPUB403A
Develop public relations documents
Week 3 – PR research and report writing
What is plagiarism?
The term plagiarism refers to taking and using another person’s ideas, writing or inventions as
one’s own and failing to acknowledge the source.
Cheating & Plagiarism Policy
Central TAFE has a Policy and Procedure on Cheating and Plagiarism. Cheating means
gaining an unfair advantage by deception or breaking the rules and is forbidden (see Student
Code of Conduct). Plagiarism, whether deliberate or accidental, is a form of cheating and is not
acceptable. Penalties for plagiarism range from students having to resubmit work with correct
citations to being suspended.
How to Avoid Plagiarism
Plagiarism can be avoided by acknowledging the sources of information used in written work. At
Central TAFE, the method used for acknowledging information sources is the Harvard
Referencing System.
Examples of Plagiarism include:
• Using another person’s ideas or opinions without acknowledging the source of information.
• Failing to place a quotation in quotation marks.
• Using statistics, maps and illustrations without acknowledging where they came from.
• Failing to include all sources of information used in the preparation of an assignment in a
bibliography or reference list.
• Cutting and pasting to create a paper from several sources.
• Using information from a World Wide Web site, CD-ROM or other electronic source without
proper acknowledgement.
Plagiarism and the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a popular source of information for students. If using ideas or quoting
from a www site, you must cite that source. Copying visual information or graphics from a www
site is very similar to quoting information, and the source of the visual information or graphic
must be cited.
Plagiarism and the Library
To assist students to avoid plagiarism by referencing their work correctly, the librarians
provide/recommend the following:
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Referencing Guide
A 28 page handbook providing information on referencing using the Harvard System. It
is available for $2.00 per copy from all College bookshops.
Harvard Referencing Section in ‘Your Guide to the LRC’
A condensed version of the ‘Referencing Guide’ is available in a free publication for
students entitled ‘Your Guide to the LRC’, available from the LRC.
Help Sheets on Harvard Referencing These are available on the LRC web pages at
www.central.wa.edu.au/library by clicking on ‘Help Sheets’ and then on ‘Harvard
Referencing’.
Harvard Referencing Online Tutorial
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Certificate IV Public Relations
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Develop public relations documents BSBPUB403A
Created using WebCT software, it contains quizzes, self tests, glossary, etc. It is
available on the LRC web pages on the College Website. Contact the LRC for login
details.
In class referencing activity
In your own words, when do you need to reference the source of information to avoid
plagiarism?
You will need to reference the source of information when you have used someone else’s information, quotes and
Individual ideas. You will need to reference when doing assignments, speeches, and work place documents, visual
Media, design, even audio.
You are writing a report and want to include the population of WA in one section. You find out
from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) website that the figure is 2.08 million people. Do
you need to reference the ABS in your report? Why or why not?
Yes, you do need to reference because you need evidential support to show that it is not false and has been
Created by a reliable source.
The manager of an organisation you are researching has supplied facts over the phone about
the organisation for your report, such as its sales, staffing and predictions for 2005. If you
include the information in your report, do you reference this personal conversation?
You have to reference the conversation but only require the key information you need.
What is in text referencing?
When quoting or using information provided from any information source, you basic referencing next to your text,
e.g (Erickson 1996, p.24) this is in text referencing.
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Certificate IV Public Relations
Develop public relations documents BSBPUB403A
Report Writing
From the TAFE website homepage, access the Library then teaching and learning resources.
Look up writing skills then choose report writing. You will find handouts to assist you to prepare
reports and essays for TAFE.
In class report writing activity
What are the differences between a report and an essay?
Essays are usually shorter than reports and contain opinions, report commonly contain just the facts and are a lot
longer. Reports usually need resources to get your facts.
List the main headings you would have in a report.
Title
brief
Acknowledgements
Materials and methods
Abstract
results
Table list of contents
discussion
List of tables and illustrations
conclusion
Introduction
reference list
recommendations
The handout suggests that you do not write a report in the order it is presented to the reader.
What should you start with when writing a report?
You should analyse the task carefully, things that need to be considered, you also need to work out a
Time frame and make an initial plan. E.G working out what is relevant and what is not.
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Develop public relations documents BSBPUB403A
Essay Writing
What are the five components of the body of an essay?
1.introduction
2.thesis statement
3.topic sentences
4.summary
5.conclusion
What are the 10 steps of essay writing?
1.research
2.analysis
3.brainstorming
4.thesis
5.outline
6.introduction
7.paragraphs
8.conclusion
9.MIA style
10.language
List reference sites for information on reports and essays:
Sites with information on PR
www.instituteforpr.org
www.online-pr.com
www.pria.com.au
information about assays etc:
www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing
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PR Research
In class research activity
What are the two main methods of research? Provide a short description and examples of
each.
Searching the internet- using online data and files to provide information to support your findings and report.
For example- using PRIA (Public Relations institute of Australia) to find relevant information in PR.
Books/ Journals- written a typed information in book form, with relevant information as well as publish date,
Auther, publisher and place of publishing, E.G ‘’Effective Public Relations’’
What type of activities could you undertake to find information (primary or secondary)?
Eg one is search the Internet.
Search the internet, collect information for the library books, journals, interviewing a person, magazines, news papers
You will be provided with more information and how and what to research in the coming weeks
in this and other Certificate IV units.
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