Referencing Guide

Questions & Answers

The APA Style

American Psychological Association

Produced by

Information Services

Contents
Section One - Aspects of Referencing
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 What is referencing? p. 5 Why reference? p. 5 What is the difference between a reference list and a bibliography? p. 6 How do I present referred material in my essay? p. 6 How do I cite authors in my essay? p. 7 What rules apply if there is more than one author? p. 8 What will my reference list look like? p. 9 Where do I find the exact information that I need for my references list? p. 10 Is an editor cited in the same way as an author? p. 11 What do I do if I cant find a named person as the author/editor? p. 11 What do I do if I want to refer to a part or chapter of a book? p. 12 What do I do if I want to cite an author that someone else has cited? p.13 How do I use quotations p.13 How do I distinguish between two items by the same author in the same year? p.14 What do I do if publication details are not given? p.15

Section Two - Formats for Printed Material

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 Books Journal article Corporate author Government Publications Conference proceedings Newspapers Legislation Theses Patents Unpublished material p.16 p.16 p.17 p.17 p.17 p.18 p.19 p.19 p.19 p.20

Section Three - Formats for Electronic and other Material Types

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.3.1 3.3.2 3.3.3 3.3.4 3.3.5 3.3.6 Videotape Film Internet World Wide Web Electronic Journal (WWW) Full Text Journal from Electronic Database Mailbase/Listserv e-mail lists Broadcast Media TV Programmes Personal Communications e-mails, conversations, interviews or telephone calls
2

p.21 p.21 p.21 p.21 p.22 p.23 p.23 p.23 p.23

Section Four - Points to Remember!

Points to remember! p.24

Section Five Plagiarism and University Policy on Referencing

Statement on Plagiarism (from University Student Code 1999) University Policy on referencing p.25 p.25

Section Six - References

References p.26

Referencing - Questions & Answers

The aim of this document is to offer an introduction to the practice of referencing published material to anyone who is starting to write essays/reports for academic purposes. The question & answer format is used so that the reader can easily check areas of specific concern to them. After reading these questions & answers you should be able to:

understand the need for, and how to use, reference systems (specifically the APA STYLE) indicate others writers ideas in your own work using accepted citation style format appropriate references correctly from these citations deal with a range of common and less common bibliographic and electronically formatted material

Look out for this Nb. sign: -

Nb.
- this indicates important notes which highlight specific aspects of APA style or referencing practice.

Q. A.

What is referencing?

Academic writing normally involves using the material you have read and studied to justify and support the answer to your essay or question. When preparing a piece of written work you will refer to this information (ideas, theories, statistics or data) in an agreed way or format (the APA Style). Making reference to other peoples work is called citing, and the list of these authors works are given at the end of a piece of written work in the form of a reference list. The process of citing authors (and the associated reference list) can be done in a number of styles. This guide describes the APA Style as outlined in the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

Whichever system is adopted, one golden rule applies:

*** be consistent in everything you do! ***

This consistency applies to format, layout, type-face and punctuation.

Q. A.

Why reference?

It is the normal academic convention to reference material you have read from the existing scholarly body of knowledge that exists in your subject area. To write in an academic way you must refer to this information to show where it has come from and use it to construct your answer to the question posed by the essay or other piece of academic work. An essay without references in the text and a full reference list at the end would not normally be considered academic. So in the broadest sense you reference for a number of reasons: To support an argument, to make a claim or to provide evidence To acknowledge other peoples ideas or work correctly To show evidence of the breadth and depth of your reading To avoid plagiarism (i.e. to take other peoples thoughts, ideas or writings and use them as your own), (see page 25)

To allow the reader of your work to locate the cited references easily, and so evaluate your interpretation of those ideas To avoid losing marks!

Q. A.

What is the difference between a reference list and a bibliography?

At the end of your essay under the heading reference list you list all the items you have made direct reference to in your essay (by the autho rs name and year of publication). This list of books, journals, newspaper articles (or whatever) is organised ALPHABETICALLY by the names of the authors (or originators) of the work. (This list can be subdivided by year and letter if necessary - see page 14.) This is your reference list. Also, during the course of your preparatory reading you may use material that has been helpful for reading around the subject, but from which you do not make specific reference to in your essay. This is called a bibliography.

Nb.
A bibliography is not relevant or appropriate for Psychology students work that is submitted for assessment.

Q. How do I present referred material in my essay? A.

You present material in two main ways: Paraphrasing or summarizing text that you have read this is the most common way to use material. Putting the ideas into your own words (in the context of answering the question) and then stating where that information came from. Paraphrasing and summarizing is a skill that needs to be practiced and developed. Quoting material directly from its source word for word as it was in its original form (see page 14). It is less usual to do this. Your essay should not be a cut and paste exercise using other peoples words. Use quotations only when you have to use the text in its original form or for presenting a longer quote which
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you use to highlight and expand on ideas or issues in your essay.

Q. A.

How do I cite authors in my essay?

The APA Style uses the NAME of the author of the work you wish to cite and the DATE in which the work was published. These are incorporated into the text of your work each time you make reference to that persons ideas. This principle applies to any item that you need to reference regardless of what it is or where it comes from you need to find the author and date of publication.

The author (or originator) is the person or organization responsible for producing that information and should be found in the source document. Author/originators can be individuals or corporate (see page 16). The author and date then become part of the text of your essay. Surname(s) only are used; initials are not included. Names can be used as part of the sentence or placed in brackets with the year following.

Eg.
Names and dates will appear in your text like this: ...Rogers (1994) has suggested that body image is related to self-esteem... Only put the date in brackets if the name of author appears as part of the narrative. Otherwise place both the name and year in brackets (separated by a comma).

Eg.
...in a recent study of reaction times (Rogers, 1994), the methods employed If both year and author are part of they textual discussion, do not add bracketed information.

Eg.
In 1994, Rogers compared two different theories

Nb.
Within a paragraph, it is not necessary to include the year in subsequent references to the work as long as the work cannot be confused with other works cited in the article.

Eg.
In a recent study of reaction times, Rogers (1994) described the met hod Rogers also found

Nb.
If a work appears to have no name attached to it then [ANON] can be used as the author instead of a name. Some works are the result of co-operation between lots of individuals none of whom can claim authorship e.g. dictionaries, encyclopaedias and films or videos. Titles can then be used in the place of the author name e.g. Gone with the wind. If no date can be found then [n.d.] can be used (see page 15)

Q. A.

What rules apply if there is more than one author?

If there are TWO authors the names of both should be given in the text and in the reference list.

Eg.
Wasserstein and Zappulla (1999) found that ... or the findings suggest (Wasserstein & Zapulla, 1999).

Nb.
Note that and is replaced by the ampersand sign (&) when the authors are given in brackets. If there are three, four or five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; in subsequent citations include only the surname of the first author, followed by et al. and the year if it is the first citation of the reference within a paragraph.

Eg.
Wasserstein, Zapulla, Rosen and Rock (1999) found that Wasserstein et al. (1999) found that (subsequent first citation per paragraph thereafter) Wasserstein et al. found that (omit year from subsequent citations after first citation within a paragraph). If there are two similar references in the same year shorten to the same form and cite the surnames of the first authors.
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Eg.
Wasserstein, Zapulla, Rosen and Rock (1999) and Wasserstein, Rosen et al. (1999) If there are six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by et al. and the year for the first and subsequent citations.

Eg.
Adam et al. (1990) suggested that the left side of the brain To cite more than one work at the same time, include all cited authors in brackets in alphabetical order by the first authors surname. Separate the citations with semicolons.

Eg.
Several studies(Adam et al., 1990; Cook, 1985; Wasserstein & Zapulla, 1999).

Q. A.

What will my reference list look like?

Everything you cite in your essay will be listed once alphabetically by author (or originator) and subdivided by year and letter, if necessary - (see page 14).

Eg.
Anderson, J. E. & Valentine, W. L. (1944). The preparation of articles for publication in the journals of the American Psychological Association . Psychological Bulletin, 41, 345-376. Gross, R. (2001). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Harris, M., Karper, E., Stacks, G., Hoffman, D., DeNiro, R., Cruz, P., et al. (2001). Writing labs and the Hollywood connection. Journal of Film and Writing, 44(3), 213-245. Hogg, M. A., & Vaughan, G. M. (2002). Social psychology. Harlow: Prentice Hall

Nb.
It is acceptable for the book title/journal title and volume number to be underlined rather than in italics, though this is more appropriate for manuscripts rather than published or assessed work.
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The APA style requires the second and subsequent lines of the reference to be indented. The punctuation, layout and spacing are the same for each type of item in the list remember the golden rule: BE CONSISTENT. See section two formats for conventions that apply to all the different types of media e.g. books, journals, newspapers, conferences etc

Q. A.

Where do I find the exact information that I need for my list of references?

Usually from the book title page (or reverse title page) of the book or document you are citing. For journal articles (PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES) this information is on the contents pages, front page or individual article page. Remember though: The order of authors names should be retained Cite the first named place of publication for books Edition dates in books are not reprint dates (new editions will have new text and must be cited as such). The copyright sign will often indicate the date of publication Web pages may not appear to offer the information you need see if there is a home page or an about us/contact us link or something similar as these may include publication details

If your material has not originated from a commercial publisher and lacks obvious title page data, then the appropriate information should be gleaned from any part of the printed publication, if you can say with some certainty that it fulfils the required criteria for your reference list.

Nb.
Remember to keep the full reference details for written notes you take from books and to also note the reference details of any items you have used which you have borrowed from the library or photocopied.

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Q. Is an editor cited in the same way as an author? A.

Yes. But make sure that it is the editor you are citing as the originator of the text, not one of the chapter writers (see page 12). In the reference list you should indicate editorship by using one of the following abbreviations:

Eg.
Smith, L. (Ed.). (1987). Statistics for psychologists. London: Helman. Or: Smith, L. & Pearson, D. T. (Eds.). (1994). Solving problems with algebra. Aberdeen: Falmer.

Q. A.

What do I do if I cant find a named person as the author or editor?

Sometimes it is impossible to find a named individual as an author. What has usually happened is that there has been a shared or corporate responsibility for the production of the material. Therefore the corporate name becomes the author (often called the corporate author). Corporate authors can be: Government bodies Companies Professional bodies Clubs or societies International organisations

Eg.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. The corporate author appears in the text in the usual way, with the year of publication.

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Nb.
When the author and publisher are identical, use the word Author as the name of the publisher. If the edition is greater than the first edition, give the edition details in brackets. For US publishers, include the place and abbreviated state. If there is no distinguishable corporate author, move the title to the author position, before the date of publication.

Eg.
Merriam-Websters collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). Springfield, MA: MerriamWebster.

Nb.
For journal articles without authors the journal title becomes both author and cited journal title.

Q. A.

What do I do if I want to refer to a part or chapter of a book? (edited)

An edited book will often have a number of authors for different chapters (on different topics). To refer to a specific authors ideas (from a chapter) cite or quote them (the chapter writer) in the text - not the editors. Then in your reference list indicate the chapter details/title and the book details from which it was published.

Eg.
Piaget, J. (1970). The stages of the intellectual development of the child. In P.H. Mussen, J.J. Congor & J. Kagan (Eds.), Readings in child development and personality (pp. 291-302). New York: Harper & Row.

Nb.
Note the use of in to link the chapter to the book and the use of page numbers. Piaget would appear as the author in the text, and in the reference list. The year of publication is given once.

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Q. A.

What do I do if I want to cite an author that someone else has cited?

A journal article or book someone else cites that you have not seen is called a primary source. You should: try and find this source for yourself and cite it in the normal way. It is important if you are criticising ideas that you do it first hand if you cannot locate the primary source, you may cite it in your essay using the reference that is provided in your secondary source i.e. the book/article you have read.

In your text and you must link these two items with the term cited in. The format is:

Eg.
... a change in family circumstances can affect a childs emotional stability (Pollock, 1995, as cited in Jones, 1996, p.10.) In your reference list, only give details of the source that you did refer to.

Eg.
Jones, P. (1996). A family affair. London: Butterworth.

Q.

How do I use quotations?

Most referencing involves putting the information you have read into your own words within the context of your answer. Quotes are sometimes used but should, in most instances, be kept to a minimum. There are two ways to present both SHORT and LONG quotations.

A.
To direct your reader to a short quotation (no more than one line) from your source material it is normal to quote the page number within the text (after the author and year) and to include quotation marks:

Eg.
... whilst it is possible that poor parenting has little effect on primary educational development it more profoundly affects secondary or higher educational achievement (Healey, 1993, p.22)

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Nb.
It is not necessary to indicate the page number in the reference list. Quotes should only really be used when the specific wording used is of interest, e.g. a definition. Longer quotes (of 40 or more words) should be: preceded by a colon indented from your main text (half an inch, 1.3cm or 5 spaces) double spaced not have quotation marks cite author, year and page number

Eg.
It was just a fragment, no more than 30 seconds: The Euston Road, hansoms, horse drawn trams, passers-by glancing at the camera but hurrying by without the fascination or recognition that came later. It looked like a still photograph, and had the superb picture quality found in expert work of the period, but this photograph moved! Walkley (1995, p.83).

Nb.
Page numbers on web pages do not normally appear. If you are quoting from a web page it is helpful to include an indication of where the quote can be found (equivalent to the page number in the text) so use the paragraph number, if available preceded by the symbol or the abbreviation para. If neither paragraph nor page numbers are visible, cite the heading and the number of the paragraph following it to direct the reader to the location of the material.

Eg.
Smith, 2004, 7 or Jones, 2003, Conclusion section, para 2.

Q. A.

How do I distinguish between two items by the same author in the same year?

Occasionally authors publish two or more book or journal articles in any given year. This would make the text citation identical for both. To distinguish between different articles, letters (a,b,c etc.) are used with the date in the text:

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Eg.
...Johnson (1991a) has progressed both experimental and practical aspects of software technology to the point where they provide a serious challenge to Pacific Belt dominance (Johnson, 1991b) Within the reference list the articles are presented alphabetically by the title (excluding A or The) that follow the date.

Eg.
Johnson, C. (1991b) Changing global markets in IT ... Johnson, C. (1991a) Software: the way ahead....

Nb.
If the references with the same authors published in the same year are identified as articles in a series (e.g., Part 1 and Part 2), order the references in the series order, not alphabetically by title. Also note earliest publications by same author(s) come before later publications.

Q. What do I do if publication details are not given? A.

Occasionally you will come across documents that lack basic publication details. In these cases it is necessary to indicate to your reader that these are not available. A series of abbreviations can be used and are generally accepted for this purpose: author/corporate author not given no date no place (sine loco) no publisher (sine nomine) not known use [Anonymous] use [n.d.] use [s.l.] use [s.n.] use [n.k.]

For web pages it is often necessary to look beyond the page you are referencing (see page 21) to the Home Page for the whole site or at a link like About Us from that home page. Dates are often given at the bottom of web pages.

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Section Two - Formats for Printed Material

There are many different types of material that you may use that will need referencing. Each different material format has an accepted style for presentation within the reference list. The following examples give the format style and are followed by an example. They are broadly separated into printed and electronic material. Remember to: use the correct source information for all your references e.g. book title page use the same punctuation consistently in each kind of format

Nb.
Note the consistency and use of italics for titles. Italics is the preferred format but it is acceptable to underline.

2. 2.1

Printed Material Books

Author/editor surname, initials. (Year). Title. (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.

Eg.
Passer, M. W. (2004). Psychology: The science and mind of behavior (2nd ed.). London: McGraw-Hill.

Nb.
The title is in italics The date is the year of publication not printing. The edition is only mentioned if other than the first. The place of publication is the City not the Country (normally the first stated). Use capitals for proper nouns and after a colon.

2.2

Journal article

Author surname, initials. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name. Volume number, (issue or part number if needed), first and last page numbers.

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Eg.
Clarke, L. (1998). Schizophrenia: All in the mind or locked in the brain? Journal of Advanced Nursing. 21, 9-18.

Nb.
Journal name and volume number are italicised, not the article title. Issue/part number is only given if each issue begins at page 1, otherwise its not required.

2.3

Corporate Author

Format is the same as for a book, but uses the corporate (c ompany, business, organisation) author in place of a named author.

Eg.
Royal College of Nursing. (1983). Guidance on the handling of patients in the hospital and community. London: Author.

Nb.
Royal College of Nursing (1993) would be used in the text of your essay as the citation. Note the full stop after the corporate author.

2.4

Government Publications

Available data may vary for these, but where possible include the following: Government Department/Institute. (Year). Title of document. (Number of document, if given) Place of publication: Publisher.

Eg.
Department of Health and Social Services. (1980). Inequalities in health: report of a research working group. London: Author.

2.5

Conference proceedings

Conference papers are often published in book form or as a special issue of a journal. It is necessary to include the name, place and date of the conference.
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Author, Initial. (Year). Title of conference paper. In Initial, Author/Editor of conference paper, conference proceedings title (pp. xx xx). Place of publication: Publisher.

Eg.
Webb, N. L. (1993). Mathematics education reform in California. In R. Clark (Ed.), Science and Mathematics Education in the United States: Eight innovations: Proceedings of a conference, (pp. 29-40). Paris: OECD.

Nb.
Use capitals for the name of the conference. For unpublished conference proceedings, use the following:

Eg.
Lanktree, C. & Briere, J. (1991, January). Early data on the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C). Paper presented at the meeting of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, San Diego, CA.

Nb.
Give the month of the conference.

2.6

Newspapers

Journalist name, initial. (Year, Date). Title of news item. Name of newspaper, Page number(s).

Nb.
Name of newspaper is italicised.

Eg.
Peters, R. (1992, June 23). Picking up Maxwells bills. Independent, p. 28.

Nb.
If it is a news article and does not attribute an author, use first couple of significant title words in the text.

Eg.
Lottery for breast cancer help. (1995, March 21). The Guardian, p. 10.

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2.7

Legislation

Law Reports
Name v. Name, Volume Source Page (Court Date). Use the abbreviated name of law report and give the page number on which report starts.

Eg.
Holgate v. Duke, 2 All ER 660 (1984).

Statutes
The usual method of citing an Act of Parliament is to cite its title and the year in your text and in the reference list, include the source and section number of the statute, and in parentheses give the publication date of the statutory compilation, which may be different from the year in the name of the act. The format is therefore: Title of statute, Volume Source xxx (Year).

Eg.
Mental Health Systems Act, 42 U.S.C. 9401 (1988). For a comprehensive guide to citing legal sources, refer to the: American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

2.8

Theses

Author, initials. (Year).Thesis title. Level of thesis. Awarding Institution.

Eg.
Kirkland, J. (1988). Lay pressure groups in the local education system: a study of two English boroughs. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Brunel University, London.

2.9

Patents

In text, give the patent number and the issue date (not application date) of the patent. In the reference list, include the inventor(s) to whom the patent is
19

issued, and the official source from which the patent information can be retrieved. Name of author/inventor (Year). Patent number. Source.

Eg.
Smith, I. M. (1988). U.S. Patent No. 123,445. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

2.10 Unpublished Material

Some printed materials are not produced by recognisable publishers, and may not be widely available. The format is: Author, Initials. (Year). Title. Unpublished manuscript.

Eg.
Lawler, C. (1987). Childhood vaccinations. Unpublished manuscript.

Nb.
If the manuscript is undertaken at a University, give the source information.

Eg.
Lawler, C. (1987). Childhood vaccinations. Unpublished manuscript, Brunel University, London.

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Section Three - Formats for Electronic and other Material Types 3.1 Videotape

For off-air (recorded from television programmes) recordings use: Name (function of the originator(s), e.g. director or producer). (Year and date). Title [Television broadcast]. Country of origin: Movie studio/distributor.

Eg.
Smith, L. (Executive Producer). (1992, June 10). Jaccuse: Sigmund Freud [Television broadcast]. London: Channel Four.

3.2

Film

Name (function of the originator(s), e.g. director or producer). (Year). Title [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Movie studio/distributor.

Eg.
Wilder, B. (Director). (1960). The apartment [Motion picture]. United States: United Artists. In the text of your essay refer to (Wilder, 1960).

3.3

Internet

3.3.1 World Wide Web

The principles for citing web pages are the same as for other types of media use author name and date of publication in your text and the following format for the reference list. The nature of web publication can often mean though that author names are missing and dates are vague or unavailable. The solution to this problem is to decide who is responsible for producing the web page (the originator), they will then become the author. It is often easier to find this information (and a date) if you look at the Home Page link for the site you are in or at the About Us or Contact Us type of links associated with that page. The web page reference list format is: Author/editor, initials. (Year). Title. Retrieved date, from URL

21

Eg.
Beckleheimer, J. (1994). How to cite URLs in a bibliography? Retrieved December 13, 1995, from http://www.nrlssc.navy.mil/meta/bibliography.html

Do not worry about omitting place and publisher if they are not available.

Eg.
The Accessed date is the date on which you viewed or downloaded the document. It may be subject to changes or updating and this allows for this possibility. Keeping a record of the document as you used it (if permissible) is recommended. Often organisations put information on the Internet without citing a specific author. If the author of the document is not identified, begin the reference with the title of the document.

Eg.

Educating America for the 21st century: Developing a strategic plan for educational leadership for Columbia University, 1993-2000 (Initial workshop draft). (1994). Retreived May 16, 1995, from http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/CONF/EdPlan.html

3.3.2 Electronic Journal (WWW)

To reference, online journal articles based on a print source, use the following format: Author, initials. (Year). Title. [Electronic version] Journal title [online], volume (issue), page(s).

Eg.
VandenBos, G. Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates [Electronic version]. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123. If you believe that an online article may differ from the printed version, include the date retrieved and the URL.

Eg.
VandenBos, G. Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123. Retrieved October 13, 2001, from http://jbr.org.articles.html

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3.3.3 Full Text Journal from Electronic Database

When referencing material obtained from a full text database, such as PsycARTICLES, include the date of retrieval and the proper name of the database.

Eg.
Borman, W. C., Hanson, M. A., Oppler, S. H., Pulakos, E. D. & White, L. A. (1993). Role of supervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 443-449. Retrieved October 23, 2000, from PsycARTICLES database.

Nb.
An item or accession number may also be provided but is not required. If you include this number, put in parentheses at the end of the retrieval statement.

3.3.4 Mailbase/Listserve e-mail lists

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Subject line of message. posted to name of electronic mailing list, archived at URL Message

Eg.
Bates, E. (2005, August 15). Changes to NLH. Message posted to LisNursing list, archived at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/lis-nursing.html

3.3.5 Broadcast Media TV Programmes

To reference a television series use the following: Name, Initial. (Producer or Director). (Year). Title [Television series]. Place of publication: Publisher.

Eg.
Miller, R. (Producer). (1989). The mind [Television series]. New York: WNET.

3.3.6 Personal Communications; e-mails, conversations, interviews or telephone calls

Personal communications may be letters, memos, some electronic communications (e.g., e-mail or messages from nonarchived discussion groups or electronic bulletin boards), personal interviews, telephone
23

conversations etc. Personal communications are not cited in the reference list as they do not provide recoverable data. They are only cited in the text in the following format: Initials, surname of the communicator (personal communication, date).

Eg.
A. T. Smith (personal communication, April 15, 2004).

Section Four - Points to Remember!

4.1 4.2 Above all - be consistent in whatever method of referencing you use. The main title of the document should be distinguishable - italics or underlined The title should have only the first word starting with upper case (except after a colon e.g. the sub-title or for proper nouns) The date is the year of publication not printing. For a book the edition is only mentioned if other than the first. The place of publication is the city not the country. Journal titles should be given in full. Volume and page numbers are written as: part numbers can be: 25, 33-39.

4.3

4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8

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Section Five Plagiarism and University Policy on Referencing

Plagiarism
Statement on Plagiarism (from University Student Code 1999) The University unequivocally condemns plagiarism, which it considers to be comparable to falsifying data and cheating in an examination, and warns students that the Senate looks gravely upon incidents of plagiarism. Such incidents are classed as Academic Misconduct and are subject to the procedures further set out in the Student Code. Definition The University considers plagiarism involves an intention to deceive and entails the submission for assessment of work which purports to be that of the student but is in fact wholly or substantially the work of another. Since it is difficult to establish such an intention to deceive except through practice the University defines plagiarism in the following way. The University defines plagiarism as the incorporation by a student in work for assessment of material which is not their own in the sense that all or substantial part of the work has been copied without an attempt at attribution or has been incorporated as if it were the student's own when in fact it is wholly or substantially the work of another person.

University Policy on Referencing The University considers that referencing is an essential component of academic activity. It is a sound discipline for students, which requires them to demonstrate the provenance of their material and the sources of their argument. It should indicate their understanding of scholarship and enable them to recognise their place as learners in an academic discipline. Acknowledgement of the academic work of others emphasises the integrity of both the University's undergraduate and postgraduate study within the wider academic community. Referencing is also vital in reinforcing the University's policy on plagiarism and in enabling students to understand the relevance and importance of that policy. In promoting good practice in relation to referencing, the University considers it is more important that students understand 'why' they should be referencing than that they are simply concerned with 'how' to reference.

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As a result, the University thinks it is important to relate the practice of referencing to the academic requirements and expectations of a particular discipline rather than requiring slavish adherence to a uniform model. The University therefore does not require adherence to a single standard form of reference. However, the University recognises the problems and concerns that referencing can occasion for students and therefore it considers that in order to simplify the problem of referencing for students there should be a limited number of models in operation in the University. The University therefore issued the University Referencing Guide which it would expect course teams to use, unless they can justify that it is inappropriate in relation to accepted external academic or professional practices in their area. Minor variations of practice are discouraged.

Section Six - References

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Curtin University of Technology, Library and Information Service. (n.d.) APA referencing. Retrieved January 14, 2003, from http://lisweb.curtin.edu.au/guides/handouts/apap.html Referencing guide. (n.d.) Retrieved February 17, 2005, from http://nli.northampton.ac.uk/ass/psych/Divisional/Skills/New%20referenci ng%20guide%20%28revised%29.htm

This guide is also available electronically via the Library Web pages at: http://library.northampton.ac.uk/pages/arg
September 2005

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