Why and how….?

Referencing

This is very important for Task 1 and then for all other written assignments on this course

It will take time to get it right but you need to keep consulting the University guidelines and keep practicing

Referencing guidelines can be found on the module website on Webct. Go to assessment guidelines and then resources for task 1

2 RLOs 1) General introduction in ‘’What is referencing?’’ 2) Detailed guidelines on how to reference in

‘’Referencing your work using Harvard’’

Why ?

To show that you have read, understood and used other peoples work in your essays / assignments

To show that you are not plagiarising work

To allow the reader to follow up your sources of information

How? – Harvard System

2 aspects to correct referencing

1) how to cite the references in the text of your essay

2) how to construct a reference list at the end of your essay

Citing references in the text of your essay

Smith (2005) has found that nursing students really enjoy writing essays

Research has shown that students really like writing essays (Smith 2005)

In the above examples I have used Smith’s ideas and put these into my own words

Citing in the text of your essay– direct quotations

Smith (2005 p25) states ‘’Students liked many aspects of their course but especially enjoyed writing essays’’

‘’Students liked many aspects of their course but especially enjoyed writing essays’’ (Smith 2005 p25)

In the above examples I have lifted the words from Smith’s text and put them straight into my essay

Direct Quotations

Use them infrequently

A direct quotation shows that you can copy phrases / sentences from other sources and then put them straight into your work

A direct quotation does not really show that you understand the ideas

Instead – it is best to put author’s ideas into your own words and then cite the author in your text as the source of these ideas

Citing in the text of your essay Use surname only – not first name or initials

Always include the year of publication

If the work has two authors – include both in your text (and both in the reference list)

If the work has 3 authors you must cite all three the first time you use it eg Smith, Brown and Green (2005) but then you can use Smith et. al. (2005) any other times you use it

you must write all authors in the reference list

Citing in the text of your essay If the work has more than three

authors, the first time you cite it in your essay you can list the first three authors and then et. al. eg Brown, Smith, Jones et. al. (2008).

The next time you cite it you can use Brown et.al. (2008)

Reference list at the end of your essay

References are listed by authors - in alphabetical order (not numbered)

Include all authors’ surnames and initials (even if there are 12 authors!)

Highlight, underline or put in italics the title of the book or the title of the journal

Reference list

Text book

Smith, P. (2005) Students on Nursing Courses. London: Jones Press

Reference list

Journal

Smith, P. (2005) Students’ experiences on the diploma in nursing. Nurse Education Today. 85(5): 25-30

Secondary referencing

When you have read a book or article and the author makes reference to someone else’s work.

If you are reading Smiths work and he cites work by Jones.

You want to use Jones’ ideas in your essay

Secondary referencing

In your essay you would need to cite Jones even though you have not read Jones’s actual work

For example - Jones (2003 cited in Smith 2008) found that not all nurses like writing essays

Secondary referencing

Then in your reference list you only need to reference the source you have read – in this case Smith (2008)

Try to avoid secondary referencing if you can. Always go to the original work (Jones in this case) and read that if available.

Many secondary references in your essay gives an initial impression to the reader that you have read a lot of material – but you may have taken them all from one source only

Referencing

Some other aspects of referencing you need to check

Multiple works by the same author Book editions Books with editors Electronic journals Internet sources Reports Newspapers Local documents