Skills for LearningStudy and work more effectively

Referencing and Evaluating Sources

Lynne CrookStudy Skills Consultantl.v.crook@salford.ac.uk

How to assess academic sources

• What information do you think you can use to assess academic sources before you even read them?

• What else do you think you can use without reading the whole article/book?

• What should you look for in a good academic source?

• Task 1: Spend a few minutes writing some ideas down…

A way of deciding whether an article is worth reading to begin with or forewarning yourself of bias.

• Currency: How recent?• Reliability: Referenced? Clear, fair methodology?• Authority: Who wrote this? Where are they

employed? Where is it published?• Purpose/Point of view: Is this to persuade you? Might

the author be biased? Do they have a vested interest?

The C.R.A.P Test

• The abstract:• Should introduce the source as a whole

• The introduction:• Gives you most background, references and gist of the

source• Gives you clues to what to read in detail

• The conclusion:• Should summarize the article/source• Should clearly state the main point

Top Tips

• Scanning: looking for key words

• Skim Reading: reading subheadings, illustrations, first lines of paragraphs

• Critical Reading: active reading thinking carefully about the content

• http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/Studyresources/Reading/sta-academicreading.aspx

Different ways of reading

• Question the article: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

• Re-order and try to manipulate information.• Summarize information• Compare articles on the same topic.• Don’t JUST underline/highlight!• Always be careful to distinguish between

their ideas and your notes.

Reading Actively

Referencing

Referencing Harvard (APA)• General references to a work:

oWhen you paraphrase or summariseo Name (year) or (Name, year)

• References to specific quotes/ tables: o If you have quotedo If you have directly lifted results/information/

diagrams/pictures….o Name “quote” (year, page) or “quote” (Name,

year, page)

What does it look like?

9

The most influential research was that done by Carter-Holland (2007), who argued that some flavours of Brand A alco-pop were incorrectly labelled. The sugar, additive and alcohol-by-volume labels appeared to be from previous recipes of the products, and had not been updated when the recipes and flavourings had changed. He found that the actual alcohol-by-volume content of Brand A was “almost twice what it claimed to be” (Carter-Holland, 2007, p.112). As Carter-Holland also points out in this study, this means that an individual could think that their consumption was comfortably under the legal drink-drive limit, when in fact they might have consumed almost twice as much alcohol as they thought. Although the manufacturers initially denied these claims and denied any legal responsibility, later independent testing by two different laboratories seemed to confirm Carter-Holland’s findings (Brandt, 2009).

Frequently asked questions/ Common Mistakes

• Including URL for material from websites

• Not including enough/too many in-text citations

• Referencing material quoted by other authors• Try and find the original• In-text: (Smith, 1999, cited in Jones, 2002) and

just the book by Jones in the reference list• Multiple citation: (Smith, 1999; Jones, 2002;

Wilson 2005)

Things to avoid

Brand A alcopops were incorrectly labelled, the sugar, additive and alcohol-by-volume labels being from previous recipes for the drinks. This, in particular, meant that people could drink the products and then drive in the belief that they were under the legal limit, while actually having consumed much more alcohol. The actual alcohol-by-volume content of Brand A was “almost twice what it claimed to be” (Carter-Holland, 2007, p.112).

OR

Carter-Holland (2007) found that Brand A alcopops has been incorrectly labelled, with the sugar, additive and alcohol-by-volume labels being from previous recipes for the drink. The alcohol-by-volume was twice what was claimed on the label. This meant that people could drink the alcopop and then drive in the belief that they were under the legal limit, when this may not be the case. The manufacturer claimed that this was not the case. However, independent testing confirmed that Carter-Holland was correct (Brandt, 2009).

Different numbers of authorsNumber First Citation Subsequent Citations

One author (Lyons, 2008) Lyons (2008) discussed…

As First Citation.

Two authors (Southgate & Carthew, 2007) Southgate and Carthew (2007) argue …

As First Citation.

Three, four or five authors (Peate, Platow, & Eggins, 2008) According to Peate, Platow and Eggins (2008)…

(Peate et al., 2008)

According to Peate et al. (2008)

Six or more authors (Visioli et al., 2009)

Visioli et al. (2009) describe …

As First Citation.

Corporate author (National Health Service [NHS], 2012) The National Health Service (2012) reported…

(NHS, 2012) The NHS (2012) reported

No authors (Pipistrelle bats, 2010)

The Climate Change Act (2008) outlines… (Use a short form of the title.)

As First Citation.

Plagiarism

• This is an important issue in the academic world:o Intellectual propertyo Issues of cheating

• It is also covered by University regulations.

Quoting and paraphrasing

• How much you quote vs paraphrase may depend on your subject discipline

• Quotations are exact replications of words from another and are enclosed in “quotation marks”

• Usually, you only quote if it is important that your reader knows the exact words used or if the phrase is so apposite, it is impossible to change

Poor paraphrasing

• “Increases in the prevalence of obesity coincide with decreases in daily energy expenditure due to improvements in transport systems, and a shift from an agricultural society to an industrial and increasingly information-based society.”

• Decreases in daily energy expenditure have led to increases in the prevalence of obesity. This is due to the change from an agricultural society to an industrial society, and improvements to transport systems.

Good paraphrasing

• “Increases in the prevalence of obesity coincide with decreases in daily energy expenditure due to improvements in transport systems, and a shift from an agricultural society to an industrial and increasingly information-based society.”

• As occupations have changed over time from agricultural to industrial, so the levels of energy used by individuals each day have declined. This has led to higher levels of obesity in society (Ogden, 2000, p.123).

Original Text reads:Psychological benefits are also related to individual needs or motivations, while visitor satisfaction relates to personal benefits received from the marine wildlife encounter. Visitors are intrinsically motivated to seek these personal rewards or benefits through interactions with marine wildlife, while also escaping from their normal routines and daily life.

Essay One reads:As Zeppel and Muloin (2006) note, such wildlife interactions give people the opportunity for a break from their everyday world, and to seek out the fulfilment of their own individual wants.

Essay Two reads:Visitor satisfaction relates to the personal benefits which visitors are intrinsically motivated to seek, while also escaping from their normal routines and daily life.

Plagiarism? Poor Academic Practice?

Plagiarism? Poor Academic Practice?

The world view held by an individual researcher or institute is clearly an important factor in the choice of research methods. But there are other factors, too. Within academic organisations senior members can exert pressure on junior people to adopt methods that they don’t believe in.

Essay one reads:This is also the case in HE institutions, in which the choices of researchers can be influenced by more senior staff (Easterby-Smith, Lowe and Thorpe, 1991, p. 43).

Essay Two reads:While the world view held by individual researchers or institutes is an important factor in the choice of research methods, there are other factors. Less experienced members of staff may find themselves pressurised to use the methodologies preferred by those in higher positions in the organisation (Easterby-Smith, Lowe and Thorpe, 1991, p. 43).

Reference List

• This is at the end of your essay and should include a full list of work cited in the body of the essay.

o It should be in alphabetical order of authors’ surnames (and not in ‘sections’)

o It should include all information necessary so that your reader can find the source

Most common reference types

• Books• Journals and E-journals• Webpages

• Again, this depends on your discipline

• If you are not sure what a document is on the internet, is it reliable enough to use?

Books

In your reference list you would write:

In the text you would write:

Or:

Russ, M. (2004). Sound synthesis and sampling (2nd ed.). Oxford: Focal Press.

All synthesizers are very similar in their concept (Russ, 2004).

Russ (2004) shows that synthesizers are very similar in their concept.

• The following details are required for books:• Author. Year of Publication. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher.

• Example:

• Carey, N. (2012). The Epigenics Revolution. London: Icon Books.

• Spot the mistakes:

• Jones, B. K. Industrial Marketing. New York: McGraw Hill (2000).

• Bernard Burnes. (1996) Managing Change (2nd ed.). Pitman: London.

BOOKS

Chapter in a bookYou may find that you have used a chapter by one author from a book edited by another.

Give the author and chapter title details, followed by In and the book details. Give the chapter’s page numbers at the end of the book title:

In the body of the text you would cite this as:

Wharrad, H. (2001). Examinations and revision. In S. Maslin-Prothero. (Ed.), Bailliere's Study Skills for Nurses (pp. 124-142). Edinburgh: Bailliere Tindall.

(Wharrad, 2001, p.138).

The following details are required for hard copy journal articles:

Author. Year of Publication. Title of Article. Journal Title. Volume number (Issue number), Start and end page numbers of article.

Example: Greene, F. J. & Saridakis, G. (2008). The role of higher education skills and support in graduate self-employment. Studies in Higher Education, 33(6), 653-672.

Spot the mistake:

Smith, T. (1999). Learning by the case method. Journal of Marketing Education, 99-102.

Journal articles hard copy

The following details are required for electronic journal articles:

Author. Year of Publication. Title of Article. Journal Title. Volume number (Issue number), Start and end page numbers of article. DOI number OR ‘Retrieved from’ and name of database

Example:

Garner, T.W.J., Rowcliffe, M. & Fisher, M.C. (2011) Climate change, chytridiomycosis or condition: an experimental test of amphibian survival. Global Change Biology, 17, 667 - 675 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02272.x

Spot the mistakes:

Osborne, P., & Ballantyne, D. (2012). The paradigmatic pitfalls of consumer-centric marketing. Marketing Theory, 12 (2), 155-172. doi: 10.1177/1470593112441564

Electronic journal articles

You accessed the web page on 2nd March 2011.

The following details are required for websites:

Author or corporate author (if known). Year or last copyright year (or n.d. if no date). Title. Access date (if from a source which may change), from URL.

Example:

BBC Sport. (2010). World Cup vote: Decision day for 2018 and 2022 bidders. Retrieved 2 March 2011, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9248956.stm

Spot the mistakes:

(2006). British Broadcasting Corporation. Help is at hand for web security. Retrieved 4 June, 2007, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5034098.stm

Websites

OSCOLA for Law

Legal materials: In-text

For cases, cite the name of the case and its date i.e. use the name of the parties, in italics and separated by v. Put the year of reporting in round brackets (parentheses).

E.g. This was discussed in Tesco Stores Ltd v Costain Construction Ltd & Ors (2003)

For legislation, cite the name of the legislation and its date.

Legal materials: reference lists

• If you have used a substantial number of legal materials, you should list your cases in a separate Case Table after your Reference List, and your legislation in a separate Legislation Table after your Case Table.

• Your references will be in the following order:• Reference List (books, journal articles and other

non-legal sources)• Case Table• Legislation Table

Legal materials: references

Parties involved – in italics and separated by v

Year of reporting – generally this will be in square brackets, but may be round brackets if there is also a volume number in the citation. The type of brackets you need to use will be shown on the source you are using.

Where reported – Abbreviation for the law reporting series. Use the neutral citations where available.

Case number

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