Citing/Referencing Sources

English for Academic Purposes Week 7

Introduction • The most important skill a student can engage in is "the

complex activity to write from other texts", which is "a major part of their academic experience." (Spack,1988,p.42)

• In your writing, the main voice ( the main line of argument) should be your own and it should be clear what your point of view is in relation to the topic or essay question.

• The objects of academic writing are 1) Saying something yourself using the ideas of others 2) Presenting your ideas in your own way.

• The emphasis should be on working with other people’s ideas, rather than reproducing their words.

• To help you do this, you need to say where the words and ideas are from.

Reasons to indicate where the words and ideas are from (Thompson, 1994, pp. 178-187)

1. To show that you are aware of the major areas of thought in your specific subject. This allows you to show how your contribution fits in, by correcting previous research, filling gaps, adding support or extending current research or thinking.

2. To support the points you are making by referring to other people's work. This will strengthen your argument. You can, however, cite authors who do not agree, as long as you explain why they are wrong. Do not make a statement that will cause your reader to ask, "Who says?"

3.To show that you have read around the subject, not just confined your reading to one textbook or lecture notes.

4.You must not use another person's words or ideas as your own so you need to say where they are from.

What is citing and referencing ? (Monash,2013,p.5)

• All academic work relies on the work of experts in the field. Their work is usually published in books,journal articles, or occasionally other media – your sources of information.

• The term “acknowledging your sources“ is often used in place of “citing and referencing“ because this is exactly what you do when using information from published sources.

• Acknowledging the source of information involes 2 steps: 1) Citations in the text of the document

2) a reference list (bibliography) at the end of document.

Citation, Reference List ,and Bibliography Citation To cite: to mark within your text that the information comes from a published source. Sometimes also termed ‘to reference”.

Reference List• To reference: give full publication details of the sources in a list at

the end of your essay or report.• A reference list includes only those authorities that have been cited

in the document.

Bibliography• A bibliography is a complete list of sources consulted about a topic,

but not necessarily cited in your work. • A bibliography looks the same as a reference list, except that it may

list more sources than a reference list in the same piece of work.

Citing and Referencing : Why they are important ?

1) To validate your research : Showing that your work is based on that of authorities in the field.

2) To help readers locate your sources3) To situate your work in the discipline : By

referring to the existing literature, you show the reader where your work ‘fits in’.

4) To avoid plagiarism: To maintain academic integrity you must give due credit to the original authors of the material you use.

When do you need to cite/refer? (Monash,2013,p.8)

• Copy text from another source• Discuss another person’s ideas in your own

words• Include a table or a diagram from another

source• Write about something you know you’ve read

somewhere but can’t remember where• Paraphrase the ideas from different sources,

linking them together with your own words

Ways of refering to other writers

1) By reporting (integral or non-integral)

2) By direct quotation ( integral or non-

integral)

1) Reporting

• Reporting the other writer's ideas into your own

words.

• Either paraphrase (writing the ideas of another

person in your own words) if you want to keep

the length the same

• Or summarise (a shortened version of a text) if

you want to make the text shorter.

Paraphrase Source

It has long been known that Cairo is the most populous city on earth, but no-one knew exactly how populous it was until last month.

Paraphrase

Although Cairo has been the world's most heavily populated city for many years, the precise population was not known until four weeks ago.

SummariseSource

The amphibia, which is the animal class to which our frogs and toads belong, were the first animals to crawl from the sea and inhabit the earth.

Summary

The first animals to leave the sea and live on dry land were the amphibia.

Integral Reporting

• According to Peters (1983) evidence from first

language acquisition indicates that lexical phrases are

learnt first as unanalysed lexical chunks.

• Evidence from first language acquisition indicating

that lexical phrases are learnt first as unanalysed

lexical chunks was given by Peters (1983).

Non-integral Reporting

• Evidence from first language acquisition

(Peters, 1983) indicates that lexical phrases

are learnt first as unanalysed lexical chunks.

• Lexical phrases are learnt first as unanalysed

lexical chunks (Peters, 1983).

Expressions to refer someone's work that you are going to paraphrase:

• The work of X indicates that ...

• The work of X reveals that ...

• The work of X shows that ...

• Turning to X, one finds that ...

• Reference to X reveals that ...

• In a study of Y, X found that ...

• As X points out, ...

• As X perceptively states, ...

• As X has indicated, ...

• A study by X shows that ...

• X has drawn attention to the fact that ...

• X correctly argues that ...

• X rightly points out that ...

• X makes clear that ...

2) Direct Quotation• Occasionally you may want to quote another

author's words exactly.

• Hillocks similarly reviews dozens of research

findings. He writes, "The available research

suggests that teaching by written comment on

compositions is generally ineffective"

(Hillocks,1982,p. 267).

Reasons for using quotations:

1. if you use another person's words: you must

not use another person's words as your own;

2. Need to support your points, quoting is one

way to do this;

3. if the quotation says what you want to say

particularly well.

Reasons for not using quotations: 1) If the information is well-known in your subject area; 2) Disagrees with your argument unless you can prove it is wrong;3) If you cannot understand the meaning of the original source;4) if you are not able to paraphrase the original;5) To make your points for you; use them to support your points.

Expressions to refer someone's work that you are going to quote:

• As X said/says, "... ..." • As X stated/states, "... ..." • As X wrote/writes, "... ..." • As X

commented/comments, "... ..."

• As X observed/observes, "... ..."

• As X pointed/points out, "... ..."

• To quote from X, "... ..." • It was X who said that

"... ..." • This example is given by

X: "... ..." • According to X, "... ..." • X claims that, "... ..." • X found that, "... ..." • The opinion of X is that,

"... ..."

Expressions for concluding ( both for paraphrase & quotation)

• The evidence seems to indicate that... • It must therefore be recognized that... • The indications are therefore that... • It is clear therefore that ... • Thus it could be concluded that... • The evidence seems to be strong that... • On this basis it may be inferred that... • Given this evidence, it can be seen that...

Citing and Referencing Styles

1) Author-Date Styles: Harvard, APA

2) Footnote-styles: Chicago, MLA

3) Numbered Styles : Vancouver , IEEE

Harvard Style1. Author prominent in-text citation : As Brick (2006, p. 14) argues, most of the writing at university is likely to involve presenting a position‟.OrAs Brick argues, ‟ most of the writing at university is likely to involve presenting a position‟ (2006, p. 14).OrAs Brick (2006) argues, ‟most of the writing at university is likely to involve presenting a position‟ (p. 14).2. Information prominent in-text citation: Academic autonomy ‟involves mastering the specific skills involved in analysis, critical thinking and problem solving‟ (Brick 2006, p. 52).

Recommended Websites

"Demystifying citing and referencing" , http://monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials/citing/index.html

"Using English for Academic Purposes A Guide for Students in Higher Education", http://www.uefap.com/