- It is not enough to simply add a reference list to the end of an academic essay or report. Developing your own ‘voice’ in academic writing (‘voice’ refers to the argument and the purpose of the writer) is a key criterion to successfully gaining any academic qualification.
Students should be constantly asking:
• Who is saying this?
• Is this my own view or the view of another writer/researcher?
• If it is my view have I made that clear to the reader?
• If it is the view of someone else is that obvious to the reader?This assessment piece is asking you to reflect on the issues of plagiarism and the importance of referencing in academic work, and is to be presented in the form of an essay.
Topic: ‘The first step towards achieving educational integrity is learning to reference correctly. Referencing enhances academic writing and helps the reader in a number of ways. Identify and discuss four ways that referencing can be used to strengthen your academic writing.’
Hints on writing this essay
- Introduction: 10%. The broad introduction will aim to focus the reader and to paint a general picture of the topic; the specific introduction will tell the reader WHAT (content) will be covered in this essay and HOW (the process) it will be delivered (e.g. discussed; explained; analysed etc.).
- Body: 80%. The body could be divided into four (4) main ideas, having 350 words each. Approximately 800 words could be from authors and 600 words inserting your interpretation of how these ideas might be related to student learning and why these ideas are important. Note: this breakdown of words is only an example. You decide according to your plan, ideas writing style, etc.
- Conclusion: 10%. Remind the reader of the depth travelled in the body by revisiting and recapping the main points.
SOLUTION
The first step towards achieving educational integrity is learning to reference correctly. Referencing enhances academic writing and helps the reader in a number of ways. Identify and discuss four ways that referencing can be used to strengthen your academic writing.’
INTRODUCTION
Writing is a continuous learning process as the more you go into its depth the more you learn from it. The creativity of the person does not depend on his knowledge of a particular topic but the way of presentation and how he interprets the information available to him so when you write any article or essay it is not bad to utilise the information available to you but you should reference it properly. I strongly feel that referencing strengthens your academic writing skills.
Referencing is very important and saves a writer from Plagiarism. What is plagiarism? The answer to the question is not known to many people. Many say that when you copy and paste ideas from internet without giving credit to the original writer by referencing it is plagiarism but they don’t know that even if you paraphrase it you have to give credit to the writer whose ideas you have paraphrased else it would be plagiarism. While quoting other people’s view you should always keep in mind that if you are writing the exact words stated by the writer then you should put it in quotes and give in text citation for it. Referencing is important because whenever you write about a topic you refer to other people’s research and work relating to that topic and form your opinion regarding that topic so without giving proper credit to those writers for their work is an academic crime and also accuse us for plagiarism (A2Z). Avoiding plagiarism is important as it is unethical you can call it a kind of theft as copy you someone else’s work and state it to be your own. In my view the researcher whose work you have copied has spent a lot of time researching for the piece of writing and you without acknowledging him state that work to be yours is a kind of cheating with your readers as they will have a wrong view of your capabilities as a writer.
Some Facts about Plagiarism (Plagiarism dot org, 1996)
A study by Centre for Academic Integrity shows at 80% of the college students have admitted to have cheated once at least.
According to a survey by the Psychological Record 36% of undergraduates have admitted to plagiarizing written material.
I strongly feel that internet is a reservoir of information which can be accessed by anyone at anytime but it is very important to make the correct use of the information in a correct manner by giving proper in-text citation and referencing. While writing any article or essay it is very important to research about the topic which can be done from primary sources or secondary sources so when you use secondary sources for your assignment you should acknowledge the sources referred. I think that the tool of referencing can save you from the accusation of plagiarism but while writing any article or any piece of work you should always try to include your own views regarding the subject as it helps you to evolve as a writer and the other writers whose views you want to read and rewrite may have done a lot of research on the topic but every person has his own view point and you might add a new angle to the whole study. Fresh ideas are always respected in any field even in any academic project if your work primarily constitutes data from internet you get less marks. Writing is an art one need not be an expert in the field on which he is writing, you can write well if it is well planned and you decide the whole structure in advance and then carry out a proper research of the topic understand the whole thing and then write your point of view. Students are often afraid of stating their own views as they feel that their word choice might not be appropriate and will spoil their work to overcome this obstacle one should always try to write regular as practice makes you perfect and you should also try to be a part of various writing communities as it keeps you in the company of like minded people and help you to learn from their experience and knowledge.
Importance of referencing can be judged by the use it comes for, for instance when you write an article you provide the details of the source from where the information has being taken and then any reader who is keen to know more can himself access the book or article which you are citing and read it (University of reading).It helps to know the way the idea has developed for example in case of scientific experiments what the scientist do is to refer to the experiment performed by one scientist and then perform the same experiment and extend the research by adding new angles to the study so in this case referencing is of great help(College G). It adds to the authenticity of the data used in your article as the readers will be sure that you are not making up things on your own and the facts and figures stated in your writing is from a genuine source. It shows the depth of the research done and I think it also adds to the quality of work as good referencing enhances the beauty of the work written and talks about yours skills as a writer as it makes clear as how you are able to use the work of others in your writing and the way you have presented it. A reader can even read the articles referred to and compare his own interpretation of the material referred with your views.
Referencing is to be done in a proper manner as along with referencing the source of information it is also very important to provide proper in text citation wherever required. There are various rules and styles for referencing like APA and The Harvard Style of referencing. A good writer is one who keeps the rules in mind and writes accordingly. In case of academic writing poor referencing skills lead to deduction of marks and creates a bad reputation in the eyes of the examiner. Writers today generally get the copy right of the work written by them to safeguard themselves from plagiarism and any person using their work without giving proper referencing is liable for legal implications.
CONCLUSION: To sum up I can say the referencing is important as if you don’t quote proper references it violates the rights of the person who has originally generated the idea and accuse us of a plagiarism which is unethical and can be even termed as an academic crime.
Secondly, it helps in knowing the base from which ideas are generated so the readers and other researchers can access the information.
It gives honour to the writer whose ideas are being copied as whenever anybody uses his piece of work he will reference it and it adds to his credibility and gives him pride.
Referencing if done in a proper manner shows the authenticity of the information present in your work and shows the depth of the study carried out to write the article.
Lastly, I would say that thought referencing helps us in giving the credit to the person whose ideas are being referred to but inclusion of your own views is very important.
REFERENCES
A2Z, ‘why is academic referencing so important’ viewed on 15 May 2012
<http://www.a2zessays.com/articles/WhyIsAcademicReferencingSoImportant.html>
College G, Hunter J. ‘Importance of Citation’ viewed on 16 May 2012.
<< http://web.grinnell.edu/Dean/Tutorial/EUS/IC.pdf>>
Plagiarism dot org, 1996. ‘What is plagiarism’ viewed on 16 May 2012
<< http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_facts.html >>
University of reading, ‘Importance of plagiarism’ viewed on 15 May 2012.
<http://www.reading.ac.uk/library/finding-info/guides/lib-citing-why.aspx>
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A2Z , ‘why is academic referencing so important’ viewed on 15 May 2012
<http://www.a2zessays.com/articles/WhyIsAcademicReferencingSoImportant.html
College G, Hunter J. ‘Importance of Citation’ viewed on 16 May 2012.
<< http://web.grinnell.edu/Dean/Tutorial/EUS/IC.pdf>>
Plagiarism dot org, 1996. ‘What is plagiarism’ viewed on 16 May 2012
<< http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_facts.html >>
Plagiarism dot org, 1996. ‘Facts about plagiarism’ viewed on 16 May 2012
<http://www.plagiarism.org/index.html>
University of New South Wales, ‘Plagiarism and academic integrity’ viewed on 15 May 2012.
<http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/index.html>
University of reading, ‘Importance of plagiarism’ viewed on 15 May 2012.
<<http://www.reading.ac.uk/library/finding-info/guides/lib-citing-why.aspx>>
LC27
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