Hello and welcome to an introductory video on referencing for academic writing.
So what exactly is referencing?
Referencing is a method used to acknowledge when ideas,
information, data, words, images or examples from the work of
others are included in your academic writing.
Referencing is one of the most important ways that students practice
academic integrity when writing at university.
Academic integrity is about applying the belief that
honesty is at the core of exemplary scholarship.
So why is it important to reference?
Firstly practicing academic integrity is all about acknowledging
when we use the work of others and only taking credit for work we create
ourselves. This is important to allow others to
find sources of evidence to build upon the academic knowledge you have produced.
Thirdly it's about acknowledging and
showing respect. It's also about validity and credibility
so good referencing strengthens your writing.
And finally often at university we are expected to use certain sources for
particular pieces of assessment by referencing correctly you prove that
you have used these sources and also show your marker the scope of
your research.
So what is involved in referencing?
Well, whenever you synthesize or put together information from a number of
sources and incorporate it with your own ideas
you must acknowledge where all of these ideas came from.
The most common writing types that require referencing
are paraphrasing or stating an idea in your own words
summarizing and direct quotations using the exact words of another person.
Secondly it's very important that you use the appropriate style and format to
acknowledge the work of others this is achieved in two different ways
within academic writing. In in-text citations which are found
within the paragraphs and in real reference list.
So what does referencing look like? Here's a couple of examples of in-text
referencing where the author of the original ideas
is acknowledged within the paragraphs it's optional
whether you use this information prominent style
where the author's name is included in the citation brackets
or this author prominent style where the author's name is incorporated
into the sentence in a grammatically correct manner.
It's best to use a combination of both of these styles in your in-text
citations. And for your reference list here we can
see the entries for a typical journal article you can see
that harvard and apa entries are included here
this is because they are the two most commonly used referencing styles at scu
note the difference between the two styles here such as
the use of brackets around the year of publication for apa but not for harvard.
So when is it necessary to use citations in your academic writing?
You must reference every time you use evidence to support your arguments
and claims that have come from the literature you have sourced.
This includes tables statistics and images,
definitions of terms or concepts, quoting summarizing and paraphrasing.
So what's involved in the process? There are roughly five steps in
producing accurate referencing. First you need to identify the style
required for your school or unit, then identify the type of source that
you are using, third identify and record the required
elements from the source and you'll find these required elements
in your guides for each style and then it's about entering the
required referencing into your assignment.
Both in text and in the reference list. And finishing with some editing and
double checking this means doing a cross check to ensure that all of your sources
cited in your writing are in the reference list and vice versa
all of the sources included in your reference list have been cited in text.
I'll show you quickly where to find the SCU referencing guides
if you go to the library web page scroll to the bottom to find
the quick links you can access the referencing guides through these two
links if you click libguides it will take you
to this page where you can click on the appropriate
referencing guide. If you click the referencing link you'll
find the referencing guides listed by school.
So just scroll through until you find your school and the particular guide
that you should be using.
Further resources are available on the student learning zone web page
to access the student learning zone click on current students
then student learning zone and it will bring you to this home page.
Grom here you can access how to videos on apa and harvard referencing
you can access the quick guides on summarizing and paraphrasing
using quotations and other aspects of academic integrity
and avoiding plagiarism. There are also workshops available
throughout the session and recordings of previous workshops on avoiding
plagiarism and (examples of good) academic writing. Through the student appointments link
you can use the ask a question function to ask a learning coach about
referencing or submit your assignment for review.
You can also book an appointment to speak directly with a learning coach
who can provide advice on referencing and academic integrity.
You can also speak directly with the librarian either
on campus or through the library chat function if you click on this button
from the library webpage this chat window opens up.
From here you can ask the librarian for help.
Thank you for watching all the best with your studies and again
please contact the student learning zone or the library if you require any
further information on referencing.