Referencing and avoiding plagiarism

Contents

1. Referencing and avoiding plagiarism
2. What is plagiarism?
   1. How to avoid plagiarism
   2. Examples of good and bad academic practice
   3. Activity 1
   4. Plagiarism of expression
3. Why you need to reference
4. What is referencing?
5. How to provide references 1
6. In-text citations (Author/date style)
7. How to provide references 2
   1. Footnotes, reference lists and bibliographies
   2. Activity 2
8. To reference or not to reference that is the question
9. Referencing: Think - Who? When? What? and Where?
10. Referencing books
    1. Referencing book chapters
    2. Activity 3
    3. Referencing eBooks
    4. eBooks: Finding the URL
    5. Activity 4
11. Referencing journal articles (print)
    1. Activity 5
12. Referencing electronic journal articles
    1. Electronic journals and Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)
    2. Activity 6
    3. Referencing online reports (Government department)
    4. Referencing the Internet (webpages)
    5. Activity 7
13. Managing your referencing: EndNote
14. Summary

Referencing: Think - Who? When? What? and Where?

As previously stated some of the reasons you provide references are of a practical nature, as by doing so you are helping either the reader or yourself to trace the sources you have used.

What you need to ask yourself is : "What are the key pieces of information I need to include?" Think: Who, When, What and Where.

Who wrote it?
Was the material written/produced by an individual or a group of people? - you will need to list them all. Is there are editor? - this should be specified. Are the authors an organisation or professional body?

When was it published?
What is the year of publication? Can you see a copyright date or does the website say when it was last updated? Think - if your source is a journal article was it published in a particular volume, issue or part of a journal and what are the page numbers where this article can be found?

What is the title (book/report/article/journal)
What is the work? What is it called? Remember, if you are referring to a book please take the information from the title page and not the front cover. Don't forget to include the sub title too. In a book reference if it is a different edition, for instance the second edition (2^nd ) or revised, international edition etc. you should include this information in your reference after the title.

Where can I find it?
Who is the publisher and where was it published? Sometimes a book, conference paper, or report may have been in published in more than one city. If this is the case then it is usual to list the first named UK city if there is one.

For example, the 2^nd edition of the book by Tom Burns and Sandra Sinfield.

Essential study skills: the complete guide to success at University was published in 2008 by Sage in Los Angeles, London, New Dehli and Singapore.

So in this case you would choose London as the place of publication in your reference.

Burns, T. and Sinfield, S. (2008) Essential study skills: the complete guide to success at University. 2^nd edn. London: Sage.

Think: If you have accessed the source electronically, how did you access it? - Was it via a database/ebook collection/open access archive or website? You will need to provide this information (web address/URL) in your reference.