5. Referencing & Citation and Avoiding
Plagiarism
• What is citation and why do it?
• What is plagiarism and why is it so serious?
• How to avoid it
• How to use other people’s work in your work
• Writing references and bibliographies
5
6. What You Should Cite?
• Direct quotes
– Part of a sentence, built into your sentences
– Long quotes that are introduced by your
sentences
– Block quotes (quotes of over 40 words)
• Paraphrases
– Somebody else’s idea in your words
7.
8.
9. Why Cite References?
• To avoid plagiarism
• To get credit for the research you have done
• To substantiate what you have written
• To enable others to follow up your research
• To give credit to others for their work
• To enable you to go back and check information
10. •The presentation of another person’s thoughts or
words as though they were your own
•Direct quotations from published or unpublished
works of others (including lecture hand-outs) without
proper citation.
•Paraphrasing – expressing another person’s ideas of
judgements in other words without proper
acknowledgement
What Is Plagiarism?
11. Reasons Why Students Plagiarise
• Cynical plagiarism
• Time pressure
• Poor notes
• Lack of subject knowledge
• Ignorance of citation rules
12. • Plagiarism is a form of cheating and a serious
academic offence
• College Plagiarism Policy available from Onespace /
Policy Zone
• You will have signed the School’s ‘Statement on
Plagiarism’
Kings College Rules On Plagiarism
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13. • Turnitin (http://www.submit.ac.uk) may be used to
check your work
• More information on OneSpace at
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/onespace/study/turnitin/
Turnitin
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15. Note Taking
• In your notes identify:
–direct quotes (“Q”) and
–paraphrases (“P”) or
–your own ideas (“Me”)
•Make sure to include
–page number,
–volume/ issue,
–author and
–article/book/journal title
•Keep a working bibliography
16. Lack Of Understanding
•Not understanding your notes
•Assuming that you should understand the subject
and will be “found out” if you ask for help
•Can’t find a way to express an idea better than the
original author
17. Voice
•Can my reader tell which
ideas are mine and which
belong to other people?
•Have I represented other
peoples work fairly?
•Have I contributed something
of my own?
18. - Choosing a topic to research
- Choosing what information to read
- Agreeing / disagreeing with what you have read /
quoted
- Choosing what information to include/exclude
- Developing your own writing style
Your Contribution
19. Citation Guidelines
• Citation in text
– Paraphrases
– Quotes
•Reference & bibliography
•User Guide on Onespace at
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/content/1/c6/07/98/48/citing2009-
10FINAL1.pdf
•Another suggested user guide
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pxc/refs/index.html
•Check with your lecturer
20. •“There is little doubt that future developments in string theory
will utilize many mathematical tools and concepts that do not
currently exist. The need for cutting-edge mathematics is
promoting a very healthy relationship between large segments of
the string theory and mathematics communities.” (Schwartz &
Schwartz, 2004, p. 347).
• In the future, string theory will use mathematical
concepts which have yet to be invented. The need
for new concepts is already producing co-
operation between mathematicians and the string
theory community.
Paraphrasing (Incorrectly)
21. •“There is little doubt that future developments in string theory
will utilize many mathematical tools and concepts that do not
currently exist. The need for cutting-edge mathematics is
promoting a very healthy relationship between large segments of
the string theory and mathematics communities.” (Schwartz &
Schwartz, 2004, p. 347)
• Schwartz & Schwartz (2004, p 347) accept that in the
future, string theory will use mathematical concepts
which have yet to be invented and they argue that this
need for new concepts is already producing co-
operation between mathematicians and the string
theory community.
Paraphrasing (Correctly)
22. •“There is little doubt that future developments in string theory
will utilize many mathematical tools and concepts that do not
currently exist. The need for cutting-edge mathematics is
promoting a very healthy relationship between large segments of
the string theory and mathematics communities.” (Schwartz &
Schwartz, 2004, p. 347)
• In the future, string theory will use mathematical
concepts which have yet to be invented. The need for new
concepts is already producing co-operation between
mathematicians and the string theory community
(Schwartz & Schwartz, 2004).
Paraphrasing (Incorrectly)
23. Quoting Tables, Diagrams & Equations
• To correctly reference equations, tables and diagrams you will
need to consider the following:
– Equations, diagrams and tables = quotations in the text
– Decide which steps of an equation to include and which to leave
out
24. Citing Secondary Sources
•Reference: U. Bossel Does a Hydrogen Economy Make Sense? Proceedings of the IEEE. Vol. 94, No. 10,
October 2006
• E.g. Equations from other people’s work
• Use primary sources where possible
• If you use a secondary source, make this clear in
your citation
25. Writing a Bibliography/References
• Bibliography
– List of consulted readings, e.g. list of textbook sources,
studied while composing your work, but not specifically
cited in the text
– Usually presented in author order
• Reference list
– List of cited sources
– Either
•Numeric: superscript numbers1
,with numbered reference
list
•Harvard: (author, year), with author order reference list
26. Types Of References
•Book
•Book chapter
•Journal article
•E-journal article
•Electronic book
•Web page
•Images
•Illustrations and tables
•Computer programme
•Conference proceedings
•Conference papers
•Standards and patents
27. • Author (surname and initials)
• Year of publication (in brackets)
• Title (in italics)
• Edition (only needed if 2nd
or later edition)
• Place of publication
• Publisher
e.g. Schwarz P M, Schwarz J H. (2004). Special relativity:
from Einstein to strings. Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press
Books
28. •Author (surname and initials)
•Year of publication (in brackets)
•Title of article (in quotation marks)
•Title of journal (in italics)
•Issue details (volume, issue number)
•Page number(s) of whole article
e.g. Du Sautoya M (2006). “Burden of proof”. New
Scientist. Vol 191, Issue 2566: pp 41-43.
Journal Articles
29. • Author
• Year that the site was last updated (in brackets)
• Title of website (in italics)
• Available at: URL
• (Accessed: date (in brackets)
e.g. Purdue University Writing Lab (2006). Owl on-line writing
lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01
(accessed: 09/08/2008).
Websites
30. • Maughan Library and ISC Enquiry Desk
020 7848 1178/243
issenquiry@kcl.ac.uk
• Jamie Halstead
Jamie.halstead@kcl.ac.uk
Further Information
32. Finding Quality Academic Information
• Web sources and issues
• Journal papers
–Using databases to find them
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33. • There’s so much on
the web that it’s hard
to find the good stuff
• Try Google Scholar
• Change your
preferences to link to
Kings e-journals
Google
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34. • Good starting point?
• Health warning!
• Don’t rely on it for accuracy
• Always use authoritative sources
Wikipedia
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35. • Journals when you have a reference
– Via the library catalogue
• Journals when you only have a topic
– Web of Knowledge
– SciVerse
– IEEE Xplore
– ACM portal
– Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Finding Journal Information
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36. • Phrase Searching
– e.g. “robotic fingers”
• Truncation *
– e.g. Robot* retrieves robot, robotics, robots etc
• Wildcards $
– E.g. colo$r retrieves colour and color
Search Tips
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38. • Senate House and other academic libraries
• Other libraries in London
• Specialist libraries (IET Library )
• British Library
• Inter Library Loans
– £3.50 journal article
– £6.50 book
External Resources
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39. Summary
• Make sure you don’t plagiarise
• Use the library e-resources to find quality information
• Impress your tutors with your references and
bibliography
• Don’t leave it all to the last minute
• Make sure you keep back up copies of your all work
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Example from the introduction to one of my previous student reports. Showing students an example of citing and referencing in use clarifies concepts.
(The 5 categories of intellectual property rights are common knowledge)
Abbreviated list of references from previous slide. Quotes and paraphrase used have been highlighted.
King’s official position (which they may have read)
Most students think they understand how to avoid plagiarism so why does it occur?
These are the commonly accepted reasons for plagiarism. Cynical plagiarism is one of the less common reasons. Time pressure and lack of understanding are the most common.
(From observation of the quiz that comes later in the lecture, the 93% have only a very basic understanding)
[General note taking is covered in PSE study skills.]
Using this method when performing desktop research will save time later.
What makes sense to the student when they write it may not do so in a few months time.
[PSE students do not generally make use of bibliographic software]
Mention that in staff student liaison meetings, most complaints brought to each meeting (e.g. lecturer went too fast etc) could be better dealt with by talking to the lecturer.
Over 50% of students find that they do not understand the subject/their report, so there is no stigma in asking for help.
Also common is that students find it difficult to paraphrase an original author. This leads on to the concept of “voice” (next 2 slides)
With 40% of students using references they do not understand, can they represent other people’s work fairly?
Students often confused about the idea of “contributing something of their own” or writing something original
Contributing something of your own includes all of the above. The scholars “voice” is the way a student synthesises the available information. This is what makes it original.
Especially in the first year, students are not expected to be able to write as well as an expert. This will develop over their student career.
Hand out black and white cards ready to vote on the next slides (black = plagiarism/mis-citation, white = correct citation)
All of the information on the following slides is on the website listed at the end of the presentation
Slide22: Incorrect: No reference to original author
Slide 21: Correct: Author referenced. Rewritten in own words
Slide23: Incorrect: First sentence not attributed to original author
Some lecturers conflate the two terms. Explain the difference
References are written in different ways for different sources. These are all explained on the website. The 3 most common are shown on the next three slides.
The important thing is to be consistent
Not all of this information will be available to the student. At a bare minimum, the URL and date accessed will be enough if there is no other information available (although can the student rely upon that website’s information?)
Most students use Google but most are not aware of Google Scholar. Optional depending on group.
N.B. academics have different views on Wikipedia. Some are promoting it. Some are banning it!
Our position is pragmatic – students use it so let’s help them use it intelligently.
If you want a fun page try ‘Exploding whale’!
Customise library info.
N.B. We can’t encourage everyone to register at BL without reason!
Note new prices for ILLs!
