We cite and reference our sources to uphold our academic integrity
and to avoid plagiarism. Here's how:
your sources are all the information you draw on when you're reading
around your subject to get an understanding
of what's been written before by other people.
Crucially this includes any sources you find online so images, diagrams,
music, tweets etc. We need to cite and reference them all.
When you bring somebody else's argument words or idea into your assignments
you've got to leave a clear trail of acknowledgement
back to them, in other words back to your source.
No trail back to your source and no acknowledgement of your source
implies that there is no source and the implications of this are twofold.
One, you're telling your lecturers that you haven't actually
done any reading around your subject which is a shame when you have gone
to the trouble of doing research and two and more importantly
you're not giving credit to your source, that's plagiarism, it's a kind of theft
which is why it's so serious and that's what we need to avoid.
Try to think critically when you're reading anything:
a newspaper article, a blog post, a tweet. If the person writing doesn't back up
any claims they make with where they got their information from understand
that this immediately detracts from the quality of their work
and the same is true of your own work. This speaks to your academic integrity
which is yours to uphold and yours to protect at all times
and at all costs. Once lost it can be very hard to get it back.
So, read lots, credit your sources and show your tutors
both that you've been reading and what you've been reading.
How are you going to show them and credit your sources?
You're going to do it all with citing and referencing.
You see citing and referencing all the time perhaps without noticing it.
You might read an academic paper that looks a bit like this open textbook.
Notice how the text is frequently interrupted by in-text citations
made up of an author's surname and date of publication in brackets.
The author uses these in-text citations to indicate that they're drawing
on something they've read and they point to fuller references
on a reference list, bibliography or list of works cited.
Sometimes you'll see superscript numbers like this within the text.
These are 'footnote indicators.' Again they're used by the author
to indicate a footnote where they refer the reader back to their source.
Whether you use an in-text citation or a footnote will be determined
by the citation style you've been asked to use.
A citation style will tell you exactly what your in-text citation,
footnote and reference on your reference list, bibliography
or list of works cited need to look like. What your reference list is called
will also be determined by the citation style you're using.
Referencing styles are either name date format or footnote, not both.
If you've been asked to use a name date style like Harvard or APA
it will be made up of two parts: an in-text citation in the body of your essay
comprising an author's surname, date of publication and when indicating
a direct quotation or something quite specific a page number if one is available
and all of that goes into brackets. This in-text citation points your reader
to a corresponding fuller reference on your reference list or bibliography
or if it's a footnote style it will have three parts:
a tiny superscript number in the body of your text
that indicates a footnote, there will be the footnote itself
and a reference in your bibliography. The idea is that in-text citations
and footnote indicators alert the reader to the use of source material
while the reference list allows the reader to locate
the source material referred to so those two elements work together.
There are three main ways to bring something you've read
into your own work. You could include direct quotations
in your work, you might summarise something somebody else has said
and then best of all you could paraphrase somebody else's words or ideas
which means putting them into your own words.
If you quote another person's work directly
you must enclose their words in quotation marks.
Cite your source with an in-text citation or footnote that includes a page number
if one is available and provide a full reference on your reference list,
bibliography or list of works cited. If you summarise another person's work
you convey the main points made. Again you must cite your source
and provide a full reference on your reference list.
Good paraphrasing shows that you've understood what you've read.
Paraphrasing is not just changing words around
or swapping words in and out it's about expressing what you've read
in another way. Read a paragraph, understand it
then express it in your own language. Your paraphrase should flow
with the rest of your text. Importantly, when you paraphrase
you must cite your source as before and provide a full reference
on your reference list. For more guidance on paraphrasing
why not request a session with the DCU Writing Centre?
If you refer to another person's work by way of a direct quotation summary
or paraphrase but don't cite and reference your source that is plagiarism.
You might ask, 'is there ever a time I don't need to cite and reference my source?'
Well you don't need to cite and reference something
that's deemed common knowledge. So for example something like
'DNA has a double helix structure' and there will be areas of common knowledge
within your field. If you're not sure if something
is common knowledge or not then err on the side of caution,
find a source and cite it. So what does all of this look like in practice?
If I was writing my essay and I wrote, 'Although Dublin had a reputation
for trade union militancy in the 1820s the printers do not appear
to have been involved in more than a handful of violent outrages'
and then I went on to write my next sentence, 'that said...'
You can see that implies that those are my words.
In fact it's a direct quotation from a book called
'The Dublin Book Trade 1801 - 1850' by Charles Benson
so to leave it looking like this would be plagiarism.
Instead my essay needs to look like this. In Harvard style I would add
single quotation marks around the quoted text
and my in-text citation with page number. Then on my reference list
at the end of my essay I'll add a lovely full reference in Harvard style
again leaving that lovely clear breadcrumb trail back to my source.
If I was using a footnote citation style like MHRA
I would follow the style guide advice to indent the quotation
and indicate a footnote. I'll format the footnote again
according to the style guide and I'll include the relevant page number
and once again at the end of my essay I'll format a lovely full reference
to the work as a whole in my bibliography in MHRA style.
Visit the library's citing and referencing page on our website and try
our online 'LETS cite' tutorial and our YouTube channel
for videos on individual citation styles. So what happens if I forget
where I found some really good information? So I can't actually cite and reference it.
If you can't provide an in-text citation or footnote and full reference
that points back to your source you need to remove
all traces of that source from your work or you could be accused of plagiarism.
Cite and reference your sources as you write so you don't lose track of them.
For more help and support please get in touch.