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A GUIDE TO REPORT AND ESSAY WRITING: Referencing your sources
of information
Introduction
The purpose of this guide is to provide you with information
on how to incorporate references to your sources in coursework
assignments at the Aberdeen Business School.
You should always refer to the sources of information used
in your assignments. References are essential when direct
quotations are given in the text, and when the ideas, arguments,
etc. of another author are rewritten in your own words.
In assessing your work, tutors will expect you to have applied
the guidance in these notes.
In some cases, your grade may be reduced if you do not reference
sources thoroughly, because you have not shown how much work
you have done.
If you deliberately use other people's words or ideas without
their permission and/or proper acknowledgement, this constitutes
plagiarism - which the University considers to be a form of
cheating.
If there is any doubt whether an item needs a reference the
best policy is to provide one. This helps ensure against potential
charges of academic misconduct. Remember you are required
to sign a declaration when you submit coursework that you
have acknowledged all quotations and all sources of information.
It is recommended that you refer to this guide before you
submit each new coursework assignment.
Why is referencing necessary?
References are required for:
· quotations from the work of other writers;
· summaries or paraphrases of the work of other writers;
· ideas or material based on the work of other writers.
Coursework assignments are designed to test your understanding
of a topic. You show that you understand by your ability to
use relevant information. The main skills being assessed are
your ability to:
· select relevant information;
· collate the information, and organise a structure in which
to present it logically;
· analyse the information, and construct arguments around
it that leads to a sensible conclusion.
The purpose of using a variety of books, journals, and other
information sources is to:
· show some evidence of your efforts;
· provide relevant material;
· build on other people's arguments;
· help construct an argument of your own;
· ensure a balanced approach.
You are expected to support your statements by using information
selected from the sources that you have read. This adds credibility
to your report, because the source can be checked and followed
up. It is not enough just to list the sources that you have
consulted in your list of references and the bibliography.
Your own effort must be identifiable, and the boundaries between
your own words or ideas and someone else's must be clearly
defined.
All quotations of the original words that you have found
in the sources that you have consulted must be put in "quotation
marks", and followed by an appropriate reference. If
quotations are short (less than 3 lines), incorporate them
"in the text of your coursework and use quotation marks".
If quotations are long (3 lines or more), the accepted practice
is to use single spacing, to indent both margins, and to use
quotation marks. For example:
The argument for and against euthanasia provide endless debate
and present irreconcilable differences of opinion. As Morgan
states,"(e)uthanasia is an endless debate; likewise physician
assisted suicide. Proponents are frequently portrayed as playing
fast and loose with the sanctity of human life. Opponents
are painted as fanatical do-gooders intent on imposing their
enduring spiritual views on increasingly secular Western societies.
Both caricatures have elements of farce and fairness in them,
in an old debate where, too frequently, fiction takes the
place of fact, where fable does the work of narrative and
where demons and panics abound".
It is quite common to have an extract that you wish to quote
in full which does not quite fit the grammatical structure
of your sentence. Here, the quoted section starts, in the
original version, with a capital E, but in order to fit the
sentence structure, it is made to run on from the author's
own opening clause. In these cases, accepted practice is to
alter the structure of the quoted extract as necessary, and
to use brackets to identify the parts which have been altered.
Hence "(e)uthanasia" in place of "Euthanasia".
If a part of the original quoted extract is irrelevant, it
can be omitted. It should be shown thus. The omitted part
of the text has been replaced with " ... ".
"(e)uthanasia is an endless debate; likewise physician
assisted suicide. Proponents are frequently portrayed as playing
fast and loose with the sanctity of human life. Opponents
are painted as fanatical do-gooders ... . Both caricatures
have elements of farce and fairness in them, in an old debate
where, too frequently, fiction takes the place of fact, where
fable does the work of narrative and where demons and panics
abound". (Morgan 2001 p. 203).
(Note that in the earlier example, the Vancouver numeric
referencing system was used. In this second example, the Harvard
system has been used. Systems for referencing will be described
shortly)
Paraphrases (i.e. when you re-write and/or summarise someone's
ideas in your own words) should be preceded by or include
"X argues that ... " or a similar phrase, and also
followed by the appropriate reference.
Indirect sources ? when you have not read the book yourself
? must be identified as such; this is called "secondary
referencing". You can preface a reference of this type
by a phrase such as, "X supports Y's view that ... ".
(References should not be made to something you have not actually
read; the reference in your work should always be to the item
you have actually read, rather than the item to which the
author refers.)
Referencing your sources
Academic work may use one of a variety of citation systems
to record references in a systematic format. You are strongly
urged to ensure that you adhere consistently and accurately
to either the Harvard system or the Vancouver numeric system
of referencing; do not combine both methods in any single
piece of work. The Harvard system should be used for all coursework
in the Aberdeen Business School unless otherwise advised (e.g.
generally for work to be submitted to the Department of Law,
and for some kinds of work submitted to the Department of
Information Management). Full details of both the Harvard
and Vancouver systems can be found in the Library guides on
the web at http://www.rgu.ac.uk/library/howto/page.cfm?pge=25531;
the guides give examples of the layout of the citations; the
layout differs between Harvard and Vancouver so you are strongly
advised to check the guides before starting. Some key points
about both systems are given below.
Harvard System
This is the system that has been used throughout this guide,
except the example given on page 7. In the Harvard system,
correctly citing references requires
1. Citing the author's name and year of publication within
the text,
2. A references list containing the full details of the publications
or quotes you have referred to within your work; this is placed
at the end of the work. and ordered alphabetically by author
surname - see the references and bibliographies included in
this guide for examples. If an author has produced more than
one item, then these entries are listed in order of year of
publication.
3. You may wish to add a separate bibliography of material
you have consulted, but not directly referred to within your
work.
Within the text, the author's surname and year of publication
are quoted in brackets. However, if the author's name appears
naturally in the text only the date need be included in brackets.
Where only a part of a document is required, the page numbers
should follow the date and be included in brackets. If you
want to emphasise the point you are making by using a short
direct quote from a textbook or article, remember also to
state the page number. For example,
"Use italics and/or bold type to emphasise that it is
a direct quote and inverted commas at either end of the quote"
(Burnett 1997 p. 1).
Vancouver numeric system
In the Vancouver numeric system, there are three elements
to correctly citing a reference;
1. references are cited within the text as numbers in brackets
or superscript e.g. (4) or Cameron4, in the order that they
occur. Numbers may refer to bibliographic citations or to
comments, or to both.
2. endnotes which give complete details of the material referred
to, including page numbers, chapter numbers etc. These usually
appear as footnotes at the bottom of each page, or may be
added at the end of the chapter.
3. a bibliography which contains lists all the items you have
cited and/or used (so may include references you have used
but not cited within the text) and appears at the end of the
work. The references are listed in alphabetical order by author.
However, the Vancouver style bibliography cites the book or
articles as a whole, not particular bits within it.
Your word-processing system may enable you to include the
reference numbers and to place the citation details as a footnote
at the bottom of the appropriate page, using 'References'
in the 'Insert' menu in the tool bar. If you move a block
of text including a reference number, it will automatically
move the citation for you and reorganise the numbering.
Multiple citations of one document should receive separate
numbers.
If you use the same source later within your coursework, a
different reference number is used and you will need to repeat
the citation in full, or use the author's surname and ibid
(where the footnote refers to a different page of the last
mentioned work) or the author's surname idem (where the footnote
refers to both the same source and the same page as the previous
footnote).
N.B. - In a footnote reference, which is normal in legal
writings, the initial comes before the surname, whereas in
a list of references and the bibliography, the surname comes
first).
- If the work has multiple authors, they should be listed
in full in the bibliographical entry. Et al. is only appropriate
in footnotes.
Incorporating references into a paragraph
A paragraph is a section of an argument. A good paragraph
should have
· an explanation of the points it is making;
· evidence on different sides of an argument;
· a reasoned conclusion.
Here are some examples, written to answer the question:
What effect has Thatcherism had on the welfare state?
1. A good paragraph
The 'welfare state' can be understood in two main senses:
as an ideal, providing welfare as of right to everyone at
the best level possible (Briggs 1961 pp 228-230), and as a
group of social welfare services developed in different countries
(Flora, Heidenheimer 1982). Thatcherism combined the liberalism
of the new right (King 1987) with some aspects of traditional
conservatism (Barry 1987); it argued for a reduction in the
commitment to state welfare (Webb, Wistow 1982), coupled with
punitive measures towards the poor (Golding 1986). If the
welfare state is seen as an ideal, then Thatcherism was opposed
to it (Loney 1986); the Thatcher governments were criticised
for the development of unequal provision (Field 1989), privatisation
(Johnson 1990) and the 'residualisation' of welfare (especially
in housing: Forrest, Murie 1988). If, however, the welfare
state is seen as a range of services, the practical impact
seems more limited: welfare expenditure was largely maintained
and even (in health and social security) increased (Hills
1990). The greatest impact seems to have come not from the
reduction of state welfare, but from the reform of public
sector administration (Wilding 1992) and management intended
to imitate the workings of the private market (Le Grand, Bartlett
1993). If so, the effect is not what Thatcherism seemed to
promise at the outset.
This is a good paragraph because
· There is lots of evidence of work;
· everything in it has a place;
· the terms are defined;
· arguments on different aspects are considered (the welfare
state as ideal, or the welfare state as a range of services);
· where material is not covered fully, a reference is given
to back up the generalisation;
· all statements of fact are supported by evidence;
· the paragraph comes to a reasoned conclusion.
2. The same paragraph without references
The 'welfare state' can be understood in two main senses:
as an ideal, providing welfare as of right to everyone at
the best level possible, and as a group of social welfare
services developed in different countries. Thatcherism combined
the liberalism of the new right with some aspects of traditional
conservatism; it argued for a reduction in the commitment
to state welfare, coupled with punitive measures towards the
poor. If the welfare state is seen as an ideal, then Thatcherism
was opposed to it; the Thatcher governments were criticised
for the development of unequal provision, privatisation and
the 'residualisation' of welfare (especially in housing).
If, however, the welfare state is seen as a range of services,
the practical impact seems more limited: welfare expenditure
was largely maintained and even (in health and social security)
increased. The greatest impact seems to have come not from
the reduction of state welfare, but from the reform of public
sector administration and management intended to imitate the
workings of the private market. If so, the effect is not what
Thatcherism seemed to promise at the outset.
The words are the same, but this paragraph is not nearly
as good. It still has
· explanations of most terms;
· arguments on both sides;
· a conclusion.
However, it now lacks
· evidence of work - clearly, some has been done but it is
difficult to tell how much;
· material to back up the statements which are made;
The paragraph has assertions without evidence - which cannot
be rewarded even if the marker happens to agree.
A similar argument in less detail
Thatcherism combined the liberalism of the new right with
some aspects of traditional conservatism (Barry 1987); it
argued for a reduction in the commitment to state welfare
coupled with punitive measures towards the poor. Thatcherism
was opposed to the welfare state; examples were unequal provision,
privatisation and the residualisation of welfare (Johnson
1990). However, welfare expenditure was largely maintained
and even (in health and social security) increased (Hills
1990), which suggests the government failed.
This is now missing any explanation of what we mean by a
'welfare state', and the conclusion is not really adequately
supported by the argument, but it is not bad, because it does
put two different opposing views with evidence. It shows,
then, selection, ordering and some evaluation of material,
and on that basis it would get a better mark than paragraph
2.
Conclusion
This guide has provided you with information on how to incorporate
references to your sources in coursework assignments at the
Aberdeen Business School.
You should always identify the sources of information used
in your work. References are essential when direct quotations
are given in the text, and when the ideas, arguments, etc.
of another author are rewritten in your own words.
In some cases, your grade may be reduced if you do not reference
sources thoroughly, because you have not shown how much work
you have done. If you deliberately use other people's words
or ideas without their permission and/or proper acknowledgement,
this constitutes plagiarism - which the University considers
to be a form of cheating.
Further reading
CAMERON, S., 2005. The Business Student's Handbook - Learning
Skills for Study and Employment. 3rd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education
Limited.
THE ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 2006, How to cite references
using the Harvard Style. [online], Aberdeen: RGU, available
from http://www.rgu.ac.uk/files/ACF1580.pdf [Accessed on 19th
June 2006]
THE ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 2006, How to cite references
using the Vancouver Style. [online], Aberdeen: RGU, available
from http://www.rgu.ac.uk/files/Vancouver.pdf [Accessed on
19th June 2006]
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