Referencing and Plagiarism
CSCI102 - Systems
ITCS905 - Systems
MCS9102 - Systems
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
5
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.
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Topic sentence
Expansion
integration of
paraphrased
material
integration of
paraphrased and
quoted material
summarising &
transition to next
paragraph
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.
10
Topic sentence
Expansion
integration of
paraphrased
material
integration of
paraphrased and
quoted material
summarising &
transition to next
paragraph
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 schemata
truly 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
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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 :.
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
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