PDP 6 – Academic reading and referencing

Academic reading

• Reading is an essential part of doing any degree• This is where you will get the bulk of the

information you need to complete your assignments

• It is important that you learn how to find appropriate reading materials and how to read and understand them without wasting time and effort

• It is also important that you learn how to cite and reference the materials you have read so as to avoid any potential charge of plagiarism (copying)

Finding and selecting reading materials

• You will find most of the materials you need for an undergraduate degree either in the Birkbeck Library or online

• These materials will mainly include books and websites, but may also include journal articles

• Materials in the Library have been selected for you because they are academic, relevant and current

• However, materials found on websites may not be academic, relevant or current so you should be very careful about what you use from online sources

Finding and selecting reading materials (online)

• Before you use information from online sources, you should ask the following basic questions about the site or page you have found:– Is there an author’s name? Who is the author? Is he or

she a recognised academic, professional, or other type of expert?

– Is the author writing as an individual or as part of a recognised academic or professional organisation?

– Is the information current (e.g. it has a publication or last updated date)?

– Is the web site academic in nature? Or is it commercial and potentially biased?

– Are any sources cited by the author clearly referenced? – Is the writing academic or otherwise professional?

• It is important that you do not waste valuable time reading things which are not relevant to the assignment in-hand

• Before you read anything you should take the following steps to make sure that it is relevant to the specific topic you are studying– Consult the module reading list – Think carefully about the relevance of the book or article title– Check the table of contents (if the text has one)– Ask your tutor for advice

• Once you are satisfied that a text contains useful information only then should you begin to read.

Finding and selecting reading materials

Reading

• Skim. Look at the chapter and section titles, subtitles, boldface and italics, graphs and diagrams, and at any summary and/or conclusion

• Scan any sections of the text that appear useful. Look for supporting details (e.g. examples, statistics, expert opinions, quotes, and explanations)

• Read for detail. When you have found relevant, useful information in the text, read it slowly and carefully

• Take notes. As you read, make sure you record what you have read. Take neat, legible, concise notes that will be useful to you at a later date

Note-taking - tips

• Don't write down every word• Use symbols and abbreviations• Use colours• Use visual representations• Revise your notes as soon as possible• Improve your handwriting• Include a reference

Note-taking – styles

Note-taking – styles

Note-taking – styles

Referencing

• Any material you include in an assignment should be clearly referenced (example)

• Good referencing shows that you are working in a disciplined academic manner and invariably raises your grade

• There are several different referencing systems, including the Harvard System, the MLA referencing system and the MRHA system

• The most widely used system (and the system you should use, unless instructed otherwise) is the Harvard System

Referencing

• Book

• Journal Article

McFarland, D. (1992) CSS The Missing Manual. Sebastopol. O’Reilly Press.

Surname InitialDate of

publicationTitle (italics)

Place of publication

Publisher

Lewis, L. A. (2002) Weakness with the Inheritance Model in CSS. Journal of Practical Computing, 5(2), June, pp. 73-94.

Surname InitialDate of

publication Title (italics)Journal title

(italics)

Issue and volume number

Month Pages

Referencing

• Electronic journal

• Website

Fowler, W. (2004) CSS Navigation Design. Journal of Online Education [internet], 36(1), March, pp. 29-56 Available from: <http://www.journals.cup.org> [Accessed 30th July 2008]

URL Date Accessed

Issue and volume number

Month Pages

Surname InitialDate of

publication Title (italics)Journal title

(italics)

Brain, M. (1998) How Web Pages Work. Available from: <http://www.journals.cup.org> [Accessed 3rd March 2008]

Name (if available)

Date (if available) Title (italics) URL

Date Accessed

Referencing

• All references should be collated in a references section

• This should be ordered alphabetically by surname • It should include not only references to texts from

which you have used information, but references to any text you have read as part of your background reading

• The references section should be included as the last or next to last section of an assignment

Further reading

Academic readinghttp://www.studyskills.soton.ac.uk/studyguides/Reading%20Academically.Doc

http://www.uefap.com/reading/readfram.htm

Referencing http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/subguides/generalref/Citations

PDP 6 – Activities

• Now do: PDP 6 – Reading and referencing