Skills for Learning
Study and work more effectively
Referencing and Evaluating Sources
Lynne Crook
Study Skills Consultant
l.v.crook@salford.ac.uk
How to assess academic sources
• What information do you think you can use to
assess academic sources before you even
read them?
• What else do you think you can use without
reading the whole article/book?
• What should you look for in a good academic
source?
• Task 1: Spend a few minutes writing some
ideas down…
The C.R.A.P Test
A way of deciding whether an article is worth
reading to begin with or forewarning yourself of
bias.
• Currency: How recent?
• Reliability: Referenced? Clear, fair methodology?
• Authority: Who wrote this? Where are they
employed? Where is it published?
• Purpose/Point of view: Is this to persuade you?
Might the author be biased? Do they have a vested
interest?
Top Tips
• The abstract:
•
Should introduce the source as a whole
• The introduction:
•
•
Gives you most background, references and gist of the
source
Gives you clues to what to read in detail
• The conclusion:
•
•
Should summarize the article/source
Should clearly state the main point
Different ways of reading
• Scanning: looking for key words
• Skim Reading: reading subheadings,
illustrations, first lines of paragraphs
• Critical Reading: active reading thinking
carefully about the content
•
http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/Studyresources/Reading/sta-academicreading.aspx
Reading Actively
• Question the article: Who? What? Where?
When? Why? How?
• Re-order and try to manipulate information.
• Summarize information
• Compare articles on the same topic.
• Don’t JUST underline/highlight!
• Always be careful to distinguish between
their ideas and your notes.
Referencing
Referencing Harvard (APA)
• General references to a work:
o When you paraphrase or summarise
o Name (year) or (Name, year)
• References to specific quotes/ tables:
o If you have quoted
o If you have directly lifted results/information/
diagrams/pictures….
o Name “quote” (year, page) or “quote” (Name,
year, page)
What does it look like?
The most influential research was that done by Carter-Holland (2007),
who argued that some flavours of Brand A alco-pop were incorrectly
labelled. The sugar, additive and alcohol-by-volume labels appeared
to be from previous recipes of the products, and had not been
updated when the recipes and flavourings had changed. He found
that the actual alcohol-by-volume content of Brand A was “almost
twice what it claimed to be” (Carter-Holland, 2007, p.112). As CarterHolland also points out in this study, this means that an individual
could think that their consumption was comfortably under the legal
drink-drive limit, when in fact they might have consumed almost twice
as much alcohol as they thought. Although the manufacturers initially
denied these claims and denied any legal responsibility, later
independent testing by two different laboratories seemed to confirm
Carter-Holland’s findings (Brandt, 2009).
9
Frequently asked questions/ Common
Mistakes
• Including URL for material from websites
• Not including enough/too many in-text citations
• Referencing material quoted by other authors
• Try and find the original
• In-text: (Smith, 1999, cited in Jones, 2002) and
just the book by Jones in the reference list
• Multiple citation: (Smith, 1999; Jones, 2002;
Wilson 2005)
Things to avoid
Brand A alcopops were incorrectly labelled, the sugar, additive and alcohol-byvolume labels being from previous recipes for the drinks. This, in particular, meant
that people could drink the products and then drive in the belief that they were
under the legal limit, while actually having consumed much more alcohol. The actual
alcohol-by-volume content of Brand A was “almost twice what it claimed to be”
(Carter-Holland, 2007, p.112).
OR
Carter-Holland (2007) found that Brand A alcopops has been incorrectly labelled,
with the sugar, additive and alcohol-by-volume labels being from previous recipes for
the drink. The alcohol-by-volume was twice what was claimed on the label. This
meant that people could drink the alcopop and then drive in the belief that they
were under the legal limit, when this may not be the case. The manufacturer claimed
that this was not the case. However, independent testing confirmed that CarterHolland was correct (Brandt, 2009).
Different numbers of authors
Number
First Citation
Subsequent Citations
One author
(Lyons, 2008)
Lyons (2008) discussed…
As First Citation.
Two authors
(Southgate & Carthew, 2007)
Southgate and Carthew (2007) argue …
As First Citation.
Three, four or five authors
(Peate, Platow, & Eggins, 2008)
According to Peate, Platow and Eggins (2008)…
(Peate et al., 2008)
According to Peate et al. (2008)
Six or more authors
(Visioli et al., 2009)
As First Citation.
Visioli et al. (2009) describe …
Corporate author
(National Health Service [NHS], 2012) The
National Health Service (2012) reported…
(NHS, 2012)
The NHS (2012) reported
No authors
(Pipistrelle bats, 2010)
As First Citation.
The Climate Change Act (2008) outlines…
(Use a short form of the title.)
Plagiarism
• This is an important issue in the academic
world:
o Intellectual property
o Issues of cheating
• It is also covered by University regulations.
Quoting and paraphrasing
• How much you quote vs paraphrase may depend
on your subject discipline
• Quotations are exact replications of words from
another and are enclosed in “quotation marks”
• Usually, you only quote if it is important that your
reader knows the exact words used or if the
phrase is so apposite, it is impossible to change
Poor paraphrasing
• “Increases in the prevalence of obesity coincide with
decreases in daily energy expenditure due to improvements in
transport systems, and a shift from an agricultural society to
an industrial and increasingly information-based society.”
• Decreases in daily energy expenditure have led to increases in
the prevalence of obesity. This is due to the change from an
agricultural society to an industrial society, and improvements
to transport systems.
Good paraphrasing
• “Increases in the prevalence of obesity coincide with
decreases in daily energy expenditure due to improvements in
transport systems, and a shift from an agricultural society to
an industrial and increasingly information-based society.”
• As occupations have changed over time from agricultural to
industrial, so the levels of energy used by individuals each day
have declined. This has led to higher levels of obesity in
society (Ogden, 2000, p.123).
Plagiarism? Poor Academic Practice?
Original Text reads:
Psychological benefits are also related to individual needs or
motivations, while visitor satisfaction relates to personal benefits
received from the marine wildlife encounter. Visitors are intrinsically
motivated to seek these personal rewards or benefits through
interactions with marine wildlife, while also escaping from their
normal routines and daily life.
Essay One reads:
As Zeppel and Muloin (2006) note, such wildlife interactions give
people the opportunity for a break from their everyday world, and to
seek out the fulfilment of their own individual wants.
Essay Two reads:
Visitor satisfaction relates to the personal benefits which visitors are
intrinsically motivated to seek, while also escaping from their normal
routines and daily life.
Plagiarism? Poor Academic Practice?
The world view held by an individual researcher or institute is clearly an
important factor in the choice of research methods. But there are other factors,
too. Within academic organisations senior members can exert pressure on
junior people to adopt methods that they don’t believe in.
Essay one reads:
This is also the case in HE institutions, in which the choices of researchers can
be influenced by more senior staff (Easterby-Smith, Lowe and Thorpe, 1991, p.
43).
Essay Two reads:
While the world view held by individual researchers or institutes is an
important factor in the choice of research methods, there are other factors.
Less experienced members of staff may find themselves pressurised to use the
methodologies preferred by those in higher positions in the organisation
(Easterby-Smith, Lowe and Thorpe, 1991, p. 43).
Reference List
• This is at the end of your essay and
should include a full list of work cited in
the body of the essay.
o It should be in alphabetical order of authors’
surnames (and not in ‘sections’)
o It should include all information necessary so
that your reader can find the source
Most common reference types
• Books
• Journals and E-journals
• Webpages
• Again, this depends on your discipline
• If you are not sure what a document is on
the internet, is it reliable enough to use?
Books
In your reference list you would write:
Russ, M. (2004). Sound synthesis and sampling (2nd ed.). Oxford:
Focal Press.
In the text you would write:
All synthesizers are very similar in their concept (Russ, 2004).
Or:
Russ (2004) shows that synthesizers are very similar in their
concept.
BOOKS
• The following details are required for books:
• Author. Year of Publication. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher.
• Example:
• Carey, N. (2012). The Epigenics Revolution. London: Icon Books.
• Spot the mistakes:
• Jones, B. K. Industrial Marketing. New York: McGraw Hill (2000).
• Bernard Burnes. (1996) Managing Change (2nd ed.). Pitman:
London.
Chapter in a book
You may find that you have used a chapter by one author
from a book edited by another.
Give the author and chapter title details, followed by In and
the book details. Give the chapter’s page numbers at the end
of the book title:
Wharrad, H. (2001). Examinations and revision. In S.
Maslin-Prothero. (Ed.), Bailliere's Study Skills for Nurses
(pp. 124-142). Edinburgh: Bailliere Tindall.
In the body of the text you would cite this as:
(Wharrad, 2001, p.138).
Journal articles hard copy
The following details are required for hard copy journal articles:
Author. Year of Publication. Title of Article. Journal Title. Volume
number (Issue number), Start and end page numbers of article.
Example: Greene, F. J. & Saridakis, G. (2008). The role of higher
education skills and support in graduate self-employment. Studies
in Higher Education, 33(6), 653-672.
Spot the mistake:
Smith, T. (1999). Learning by the case method. Journal of
Marketing Education, 99-102.
Electronic journal articles
The following details are required for electronic journal articles:
Author. Year of Publication. Title of Article. Journal Title. Volume
number (Issue number), Start and end page numbers of article. DOI
number OR ‘Retrieved from’ and name of database
Example:
Garner, T.W.J., Rowcliffe, M. & Fisher, M.C. (2011) Climate change,
chytridiomycosis or condition: an experimental test of amphibian
survival. Global Change Biology, 17, 667 - 675 doi: 10.1111/j.13652486.2010.02272.x
Spot the mistakes:
Osborne, P., & Ballantyne, D. (2012). The paradigmatic pitfalls of
consumer-centric marketing. Marketing Theory, 12 (2), 155-172. doi:
10.1177/1470593112441564
You accessed the web page on 2nd March 2011.
Websites
The following details are required for websites:
Author or corporate author (if known). Year or last copyright year (or
n.d. if no date). Title. Access date (if from a source which may change),
from URL.
Example:
BBC Sport. (2010). World Cup vote: Decision day for 2018 and
2022 bidders. Retrieved 2 March 2011, from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9248956.stm
Spot the mistakes:
(2006). British Broadcasting Corporation. Help is at hand for web
security. Retrieved 4 June, 2007, from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5034098.stm
OSCOLA for Law
Legal materials: In-text
For cases, cite the name of the case and its date i.e. use the
name of the parties, in italics and separated by v. Put the
year of reporting in round brackets (parentheses).
E.g. This was discussed in Tesco Stores Ltd v Costain
Construction Ltd & Ors (2003)
For legislation, cite the name of the legislation and its date.
Legal materials: reference lists
• If you have used a substantial number of legal
materials, you should list your cases in a separate
Case Table after your Reference List, and your
legislation in a separate Legislation Table after your
Case Table.
• Your references will be in the following order:
• Reference List (books, journal articles and other
non-legal sources)
• Case Table
• Legislation Table
Legal materials: references
Parties involved – in italics and separated by v
Year of reporting – generally this will be in square
brackets, but may be round brackets if there is also a
volume number in the citation. The type of brackets
you need to use will be shown on the source you are
using.
Where reported – Abbreviation for the law reporting
series. Use the neutral citations where available.
Case number
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