Psychology Tutor: Mentor (PSI) Psycho-Social Incarnation

It is the norm for academic papers to have referencing, which includes in-text citations (citing) of where original ideas came from and a reference list at the end of the document.

To a degree, common sense is used to determine when you are writing about an idea that is yours or when the spark of the idea can be attributed to another.

It is necessary to cite our sources when writing from an ethical point of view as well~ we want to tip our hat to the one who inspired our paraphrasing and give credit where it is due.

We want also to make the original document available to our reader, so that they can consult the original work to decide if the conclusions we are drawing are justified by the evidence we are providing.

Generally, it is not necessary to cite sources for familiar proverbs, quotes or common knowledge. If you are confused about whether to cite for something, check with your tutor or lecturer at your campus.

Each discipline has a Style Guide/Format that it uses to accurately cite sources of information, some of the more popular Styles have there links here:

APA (http://www.apastyle.org/)

Harvard (http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/harvard.html)

MLA (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/)

Oxford (http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study-support/study-skills/handouts/oxford-docnote.php)

Turabian (http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/cite/turabian.html)

Referencing shows the reader, normally your campus tutor or lecturer, that you know how to research for a topic and to support your argument with evidence. In this way you can write an authoritative paper.

The Reference List goes at the end of the paper; it differs from a Bibliography in that only the sources cited in-text are listed (i.e., not every document that you accessed/read to write the paper though did not use material from and so did not cite in-text).

The Reference List is in alphabetical order according to author surnames/source titles and is written in a way particular to the Style Format your lecturer has asked for.  Publication details or where to access your source/document on the Internet is listed here to enable the reader to verify your conclusions.

To conclude, here are some important definitions:

Paraphrase: To re-write a sentence in your own words (Purdue Owl, 2007).

Why? : To show your Understanding of the statement/paragraph you have just read.

Examples (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/01/)

Plagiarism: Written work that does not represent one’s own efforts to paraphrase so as to show one’s understanding (Council of Writing Program Administrators, 2003).

Why?: Western culture emphasizes attributing ideas to an original source; i.e.,                                 intellectual property.

Examples (http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9)

Quote: Writing a sentence/paragraph word-for-word so as to highlight the original work; most marking criteria insists on minimal use of quotes (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1998-2007).

Why?: When something is said in an insightful or unique way and paraphrasing would take away from the impact of the original material.

Examples: (http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/mla.html)

What do you find most frustrating about Referencing? Share your thoughts and suggestions here…

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