+ All Categories
Home > Documents > Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing...

Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing...

Date post: 16-Aug-2020
Category:
Upload: others
View: 1 times
Download: 0 times
Share this document with a friend
32
Guidelines for referencing practice and the use of Turnitin®UK School of Marketing, Tourism & Languages The Business School
Transcript
Page 1: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Guidelines forreferencing practiceand the use ofTurnitin®UK

School of Marketing,Tourism & Languages

The Business School

Page 2: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Please address any comments to the document authors or Head of School.

AuthorsJohn RevueltaTeaching Fellow and Faculty Director, International Quality DevelopmentSchool of Marketing, Tourism & LanguagesThe Business SchoolEdinburgh Napier UniversityCraiglockhart Campus, Room 4/22EdinburghEH14 1DJ

email: [email protected]

Monika FosterSenior Teaching Fellow and Senior LecturerSchool of Marketing, Tourism & LanguagesThe Business SchoolEdinburgh Napier UniversityCraiglockhart Campus, Room 4/20EdinburghEH14 1DJ

email: [email protected]

The production of standardised guidelines is an outcome from the working group, University Guidelines for Referencing, Paraphrasing and the Use of Turnitin®UK, set up by the Learning, Teaching and Assessment Committee in 2010. If you have any general comments on University referencing guidelines then please address these to:

Anastasia DragonaInformation and Project OfficerOffice of the Vice Principal (Academic)Edinburgh Napier UniversitySighthill CampusSighthill CourtEdinburgh EH11 4BN

email: [email protected]

First published by Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland © 2011. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without permission in writing from Edinburgh Napier University, Sighthill Campus, Sighthill Court, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, Scotland.

Page 3: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages1

EDINBURGH NAPIER BUSINESS SCHOOL

SCHOOL OF MARKETING, TOURISM AND LANGUAGES

REFERENCING GUIDELINES A guide to citing sources, referencing, plagiarism and using Turnitin®UK

This document gives referencing guidelines for students studying modules in the School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages. It is based on a template provided by the University. The actual text is based closely on the work of several colleagues in The Business School (see Acknowledgements on p 30). Other schools in the Faculty and the University have their own Guidelines, but they are all based on the same template and the guidelines they give do not conflict with each other. They are just explained differently, according to what students in each School find difficult, in the experience of academic staff. The document explains why referencing is important and then shows you how to do it, what happens if you don’t do it (Plagiarism) and how you and academic staff can use Turnitin®UK to avoid plagiarism. It is written in Question and Answer format so, after reading it through once, you can dip into it when you have a particular question about referencing in mind.

September 2011

Page 4: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages2

Contents 1.  Introduction to Citations and References .................................................................... 4 

1.1 Why do I need to reference? ........................................................................................... 4 1.2 When do I need to reference? ......................................................................................... 4 1.3 What are citations and references? ................................................................................. 4 1.4 What is the end reference list? ........................................................................................ 5 1.5 What is the bibliography? ................................................................................................ 5 1.6 Does using standardised referencing techniques help to guard against academic misconduct, including plagiarism? ......................................................................................... 5 1.7 Where can I find help and support? ................................................................................. 6 

2.  Citing sources within the text ........................................................................................ 7 2.1 Where in the sentence does the citation bracket appear? .............................................. 7 2.2 Do I include the author’s name inside the brackets or not? ............................................. 8 2.3 Do I include the page number in the brackets? ............................................................... 9 2.4 What information do I include in the brackets? .............................................................. 10 2.5 What if I am citing more than one author in the same brackets? .................................. 11 2.6 What if I have more than one source with the same name and year? .......................... 13 2.7 How do I cite more than one author in a sentence or paragraph? ................................ 14 2.8 What if I don’t know the author’s name? ....................................................................... 14 2.9 How would I cite a website? .......................................................................................... 15 2.10 What if I am citing an author from within another source? .......................................... 16 2.11 Which bit of a name is used when citing? ................................................................... 18 

3.  End Reference Lists ..................................................................................................... 18 3.1 What is the difference between a Bibliography and a Reference List? ......................... 18 3.2 The Purpose of End References ................................................................................... 19 3.3 How would I reference a book? ..................................................................................... 20 3.4 How would I reference a journal? .................................................................................. 20 3.5 How would I reference a thesis or dissertation? ............................................................ 21 3.6 How would I reference an e-journal? ............................................................................. 21 

Note: an e-journal (here) is one which is only published online. ...................................... 21 3.7 How would I reference a resource I found online? ........................................................ 21 3.8 Things To Remember About Reference Lists: .............................................................. 23 3.9 A Sample Reference List ............................................................................................... 24 

4.  Avoiding plagiarism ...................................................................................................... 25 4.1 What is plagiarism? ....................................................................................................... 25 4.2 Why is plagiarism serious? ............................................................................................ 25 4.3 How would I avoid plagiarism by using my own notes? ................................................ 25 4.4 When can I use quotations? .......................................................................................... 25 4.5 Do I always need to put in a citation when I paraphrase other people’s work? ............. 26 4.6 Will I be accused of plagiarism if I am reporting something that is common knowledge but don’t provide a citation? ................................................................................................. 26 4.7 What is collusion? .......................................................................................................... 26 4.8 How do I make sure that I don’t get accused of copying other students’ work? ............ 26 4.9 What happens if I am suspected of plagiarism? ............................................................ 27 4.10 Where can I find out more about how the University handles cases of suspected plagiarism? .......................................................................................................................... 27 

5.  Using Turnitin®UK ........................................................................................................ 28 5.1 What is an acceptable percentage of matching text? .................................................... 28 5.2 Why does my text match sources I have not used? ...................................................... 28 5.3 What if my text matches my classmates work? ............................................................. 28 5.4 What if my reference list/bibliography is matching other sources? ................................ 28 

Page 5: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages3

5.5 How can I use quotations without matching other sources? ......................................... 28 5.6 How significant are matches that are just a few common words? ................................. 29 5.7 What should I do if I have sentences or paragraphs of matching text? ......................... 29 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... 29 APPENDIX – REFERENCING GROUND RULES: MARKING INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS ............................................................................................................................ 30 

Page 6: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages4

1. Introduction to Citations and References

1.1 Why do I need to reference? When you submit work that is well referenced you are rewarded because you:

Provide clear evidence that you have researched your topic; Demonstrate that you have skills in research, having managed to find sources

that are at an appropriate level and relevant to the subject area without missing the key ones;

Support and justify statements made in your work by citing published experts;

Work that is well referenced is easier to follow. This facilitates the work of the people evaluating the work that you have submitted. Markers are not distracted into providing corrective feedback. They are able to focus on the content of what you have written, rather than the form.

1.2 When do I need to reference? You will need to provide references to the sources that you have used when compiling your academic work e.g. reports, essays, projects and in Fourth Year your dissertation. The references that you use will support the arguments that you have developed within your work. The benefits of good referencing are that:

• You demonstrate accountability

• Your work is comprehensible to readers

– they can be confident that you have skills in literature searching and have researched the topic thoroughly to find and use material at the appropriate level

– they can see how your ideas can be supported by evidence

If someone would like to find the sources from which you have built your arguments, it is possible for them to do so easily when you provide exact references. This is particularly important for your coursework and dissertation work.

1.3 What are citations and references? You are expected to use in-text citations in the main body of written work to give a brief identification of the source of material used. You provide the full reference in the reference list at the end of the work (the end references). The in-text citation is a pointer to the full details of the source as given in the reference list.

Page 7: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages5

If you do not provide in-text citations to the sources that you have used in your work, you can be accused of plagiarising the work of others.

1.4 What is the end reference list? The purpose of a reference list is to provide readers with full details of retrievable sources of information referred to in the body of your work. It supports a single particular piece of work.

1.5 What is the bibliography? The purpose of a bibliography is to cite work for background information, or to present the reader with other sources of reading, to which you will not have referred in the body of your work. The purpose of each in your work can be illustrated by considering the role of the two types of listing in a final year project or dissertation work.

A reference list will be given at the end of your work to support the material presented

The bibliography lists all material that was useful in the preparation of the work as a whole, but not actually used in your work and so not cited in your text

1.6 Does using standardised referencing techniques help to guard against academic misconduct, including plagiarism? Yes. You should be careful not to commit academic misconduct, for example through plagiarising the work of others, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Even if you fail to acknowledge the source of your ideas and/ or words through carelessness, without meaning to cheat, you can still be accused of plagiarism. The following are all forms of academic misconduct: Paraphrasing the words of another person without providing a citation and

reference to that person’s work (Plagiarism);

Including in your work the exact words of another person without placing quotation marks around those words, and failing to provide a citation and reference to that person’s work (Plagiarism);

Doing the above by cutting and pasting from an online source (Plagiarism); Submitting work under your name when it has actually been written for you by

someone else, for example a former or a current student (Plagiarism or Cheating); Submitting work for an individual assignment which you have done jointly with

someone else (Collusion); Submitting work copied from another student (current or past), whether or not the

other student knows that you have done this (Collusion);

Page 8: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages6

Allowing another student to copy your work (Collusion); Cheating in exams (Cheating). All the above breaches of Academic Conduct Regulations have been committed by students in this School and penalised by Academic Conduct Officers. See Section 5.

1.7 Where can I find help and support? This document is one of the best places to find information on the referencing conventions. If you use it thoroughly, you won’t normally need to look anywhere else for information on the referencing conventions. The next place you could go to is the “Be wise don’t plagiarise” website under the Avoiding Plagiarism icon in your Student Portal. In addition to one of these documents for each School, there are other useful documents, examples, links and a couple of videos which go through the whole process. Some of these items deal with academic writing (eg how to paraphrase) as many students find this just as difficult as mastering the referencing conventions in this document. The Library website is also a good source of information on how to write academically. Support for referencing practice is also available from academic staff in the School or from staff in the library. If in doubt please ask!

Page 9: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages7

2. Citing sources within the text The first thing about referencing, which we must emphasise is: You must reference your sources in TWO related places In this section we will deal with main issues to be aware of when using citations within the text. There are some examples of what NOT to do, which are identified with a cross (X) beside them. Examples of correct practice are shown in indented paragraphs and are identified with a tick (√).

2.1 Where in the sentence does the citation bracket appear? The citation bracket should be placed in the sentence. The first two examples show common ways of placing it which are wrong. For example Do NOT have the reference bracket after the full stop, like this:

…reports on the results of surveys undertaken monthly and annually on behalf of each tourist board. (Scottish Executive, 2007) This means…

NOR like this:

…reports on the results of surveys undertaken monthly and annually on behalf of each tourist board. (Scottish Executive, 2007) This means...

These are both incorrect ways of placing the reference brackets. The correct place is usually to include the reference within the sentence you are referencing. I.e. put the full stop after the brackets, rather than before. Correct Example: In the sentence below, the information is stated and then the source (in this case the Scottish Executive) is given at the end of the sentence, and the brackets are included within the sentence being referenced.

Do not have the bracket floating on its own line

Do not place the full stop before the bracket

Citing your sources within

The text

Listing these sources in the end references

Page 10: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages8

The definition of a visitor attraction in the UK was first harmonised in 2000 for the purposes of data collection for the Visitor Attraction Monitor, which reports on the results of surveys undertaken monthly and annually on behalf of each tourist board (Scottish Executive, 2007). This means...

2.2 Do I include the author’s name inside the brackets or not? This is another very common problem. The examples below show how to decide which would be correct. a) If you intend the name of the author to be read as part of the sentence, then the name does NOT go inside the bracket. Only the date will appear in the brackets: Example:

A related argument is found in Ashton’s (2004) paper, which examines how organisational structures and their culture impact on workplace learning…

b) However, if you are simply referencing an idea you have taken from a source, but the name will NOT be read as part of the sentence, then the author’s name IS included in the brackets, with the year:

This complex interrelationship of factors makes the experience of visiting an attraction unique to every visitor (Swarbrooke, 2002).

The reference bracket follows the information being referenced and the full stop comes after it.

The name is read as part of the sentence, so is NOT inside the bracket

The name is NOT read as part of the sentence, so is enclosed inside the bracket

Make sure you always include the brackets within the sentence

The examples in a) and b) above are both short paraphrases, where the author has put the original writer’s ideas into mainly his own words. The alternative way of using the source is to quote directly from it, as in c) below. We prefer to see far more paraphrasing than quotation, because we can be more certain that you understood better what was written, as you are having to put it into your own words (See Ground Rule 1 in the Appendix).

Page 11: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages9

c) Do not split the name and the date. I.e. do not give the name at the beginning of the sentence and then the date at the end of it. The date and any page number details should come immediately after the name.

Example:

Incorrect:

Canning suggests that “Higher Still merely exacerbates the existing divide”, which will…(2003, p.12)

Correct:

Canning (2003, p.12) suggests that “Higher Still merely exacerbates the existing divide”, which will…

2.3 Do I include the page number in the brackets? So many people seem confused about this. They either stick a page number into every reference bracket or they never have a page number for anything. However, the answer is straightforward: This can be in two forms – a short quote and a long quote. a) What to do when you are only quoting a short phrase and blending that quote into your own words within a sentence, using double “quotation marks” to identify the quoted text: Example 1:

Lennon (2001, p.153) notes that the development of attractions in association with other sectors of the community, especially retail and entertainment, blur the boundaries between them and thus “stretch the traditional visitor attraction definition”.

Do not separate the name and the year bracket

√ Keep the year and page bracket beside the name

You only include a page number if you are quoting directly from another source. I.e. you are using their exact words

The above example shows that the words that appear later in the sentence in “quotation marks” are referenced to Lennon, 2001 and those words can be found on page 153 of this text. The rest of the sentence is paraphrased i.e. Lennon’s ideas but put into the author’s own words.

Page 12: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages10

Example 2: Another example of this same method is where the name is not read as part of the sentence but appears at the end, after the quote:

Quality in service, he suggests, “will demand spontaneous and ongoing improvement” (Kandampully, 1997, p.11).

b) The second way in which a page number would appear is for a longer quote. Where you are using a quote of roughly 40 words or more, then the quote should not be included within the paragraph but have a paragraph of its own, which should be indented, as in the example below: Leighton (2006, p. 117) highlights the importance of employees in achieving excellence:

… one of the great breakthroughs in recent times, particularly in the heritage sector, has been the realisation that it is not a business based on buildings or monuments or even shops and cafes. It is about people, their inspiration and professionalism. The attractions business is universally characterised by the need to deliver excellence in visitor service. But this excellence can only be delivered if supported by exemplary management standards and practices. In recent years, the sector has come to appreciate this.

Note: If the quote is indented in this way, then it does not need quotation marks. However, we recommend that you do put quotation marks in (at each end of the quotation, as usual), as it is clearer for the reader and easier for Turnitin to recognise it a quotation.

Further note: If the above long quote began on page 117 and ended on page 118, this would be shown with ‘pp’, to indicate that the quote came from more than one page:

Leighton (2006, pp. 117-118) highlights the importance…

Final note on page numbers: Sometimes, page number references are shown following a colon, for example (Leighton, 2006:117). This format is also correct.

2.4 What information do I include in the brackets?

Keep it simple. Within the text, the purpose of a citation is simply to identify the author and the year. All other information such as full names, initials, titles of the journal or book etc, all go into the end references.

The ‘pp’ shows that the quote was taken from two consecutive pages (117 and 118)

Page 13: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages11

Example: one of the most common mistakes is to put the author’s initials in the brackets: (Harrison, G, 2004) would NOT be correct – it should just be (Harrison, 2004). Examples: (Leask and Fyall, 2007)

or (Watson et al, 2004, p.49) (See note in the box below**)

or (Hilton Hotel, 2008)

Any other reference information will usually appear in the end references. (Although watch out, in some of the some forthcoming examples, for other types of information that can be included in the citation brackets to aid the reader).

2.5 What if I am citing more than one author in the same brackets? Some reasons why you might want to reference more than one author:

**Note: ‘et al’, is a Latin term, meaning ‘and others’. If there are three or more authors, you can give the lead author’s name and then et al can be used as an abbreviation to indicate that there are additional authors. The additional authors would usually be listed fully in the reference list at the end. It is ok to list all the authors in the reference bracket if you really want to, but et al allows you to save space and keeps your presentation neater.

Therefore, the answer to what goes into the brackets is usually (for a paraphrase) just the source -the name of the author(s) (or organisation – see Q8) and the year of publication. Also the page number – but remember, only if you are making a direct quote.

The simple answer is that if you are referencing a number of authors within one set of brackets, then separate them with a semi colon (;)

Page 14: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages12

a) You may want to reference an idea that has been made previously by two different authors, or in the case below, by the same author but in two different papers:

Both organisations in these studies met the criteria for a ‘learning organisation’ (Fischer et al., 2004; Fischer, 2005), which are...

b) Or it could be that a list of points that you are referencing have been collectively taken from a variety of sources:

Other ways of grouping visitor attractions noted from the literature (drawn from: Holloway, 2002; Leask and Fyall, 2006; Swarbrooke, 2002, Visit Scotland, 2007) include not only by type, as described above, but also by...

c) Another reason for citing a number of sources might be because you are mentioning a subject and pointing the reader in the direction of where to find out more information about it, as shown in the example below:

For those interested in how learning takes place, there are vast related literatures that depict various models of learning, for example, ‘experiential learning’ (e.g. Argyris, 2005; Baker et al., 2002), or ‘work-based learning’ (e.g. Raelin, 2000; Rainbird et al., 2004; Sangster et al., 2000).

Two different papers you have read have made the same or a similar point about ‘learning organisations’. This is NOT a quotation: the single inverted commas are simply highlighting the phrase.

In this example, the author provides a list of different ways of grouping visitor attractions. However, the list was made up from different lists found in a number of sources, where the descriptions overlapped. In such a case, it was too difficult to identify which information came from which source, so the author is showing the collective list was drawn from all the above sources. NOTE; when referencing a list of authors within brackets, it is usual to put them in alphabetical order by lead author’s name (see H, L, S, V) in above example.

The author here is not mentioning any specific information from these texts, just advising the reader that if they want to find out more about these subjects then the texts cited might be a good place to start. The full references would be shown at the end, so the reader could track them down.

Page 15: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages13

2.6 What if I have more than one source with the same name and year?

It quite often happens that you use sources where an author or organisation has more than one publication in a year. For example, if you have two different journal articles written by Boreham in 2002, how can you tell them apart when citing them in the text? The answer is to use ‘a’ or ‘b’ after the year. For example:

A very full account of the economic and political drivers behind the development of interest in work process knowledge can be found in Boreham (2002a). However, he gives a more succinct summary of the reasons in Boreham (2002b, p.32) …

In the end reference list, these references would appear with the full details:

Boreham, N. (2002a) "Work process knowledge in technological and organizational development" in Work Process Knowledge, N. Boreham, R. Samurçay, & M. Fischer, eds., Routledge, London and New York, pp. 1-14

Boreham, N. (2002b) "Work Process Knowledge, Curriculum Control and the Work-based Route to Vocational Qualifications", British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 225-237

Note that the end references also show the ‘a’ and ‘b’ after the year, to help link them to the references within the text.

Page 16: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages14

2.7 How do I cite more than one author in a sentence or paragraph? If you are blending information from various sources to construct your argument, you might find that you want to cite the work of more than one author in the same sentence or paragraph. The example below demonstrates how to do this:

Part-time employment is a common antidote to uneven work distribution, accounting for around half of tourism employment (Jones and Haven-Tang, 2005). This enables management to stagger employee work hours to cope with demand ebb and flow (Graham and Lennon, 2002; Riley and Lockwood, 1997), with many organisations relying on students to cover seasonal peak times (Lucas, 1997).

2.8 What if I don’t know the author’s name? It often happens that people wish to reference a source but cannot find the individual author’s name. This is particularly true when referencing information from websites. You could use Anon in the citation - however, if you do this, you can end up with a large number of ‘Anon’s in the reference list (and if so, remember to identify them ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ etc, as shown above, if they’re in the same year). However, a much better way is to use the ORGANISATION name as the corporate author. For example, if you were citing an online report from the European Commission website, but you don’t know the name of the actual author, then you would put the organisation name in the brackets (see example below):

During 1995 to 2003, as part of the 4th and 5th EU Framework Programmes, the Director General of the European Commission (see: European Commission, 2003) supported a significant number of research programmes...

In the end references, this online citation would appear as:

European Commission (2003) European Union-supported educational research 1995-2003, Report number: EUR20791, Luxembourg, Available [Online] at:

This indicates to the reader that this report is cited in the end references under ‘European Commission’

From the way this paragraph is referenced, the reader can tell that the information in the first sentence, relating to part-time employment has come from Jones and Haven-Tang. The second piece of information, about staggering employee workflow, has been drawn from two texts (Graham and Lennon; and Riley and Lockwood), while the final piece of information, about students covering seasonal peak times, is attributed to Lucas. Note: watch out your sentences don’t get too long, though. If they do, split them.

Page 17: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages15

ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/citizens/docs/report_education_03.pdf Accessed: 12 July 2007

NOTE: If you use the organisation name, then list it under that name in the end references.

2.9 How would I cite a website? This is a rather problematical area. There does not yet seem to be a consensus on a standardised format for online and website referencing. What is suggested here are some basic guidelines on how to cite and reference websites in a way that generally conforms to Harvard style and will be acceptable in your submissions. However, let’s just agree on a basic rule here:

REMEMBER - Be Consistent

If you mention a source within the text, then the way you refer to it there should be exactly how you list it in the end references. For example, do not refer to a source within the text as European Commission then list it as ‘The European Commission’ - ie do not put ‘The’ at the beginning of the organisation name and list it under ‘T’, when the reader would look for it under ‘E’. Or even worse, do NOT list a reference as one thing in the text and then another at the end. For example referencing (Jones, 2008) within the text and then listing it under Consortium Hotels in the end references. Help your reader to easily find the full reference by being consistent.

The reader looks at the end references list to find the full reference details under the organisation name you used in the text.

Unless there is absolutely no suitable alternative: DO NOT put website addresses within the text.

Page 18: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages16

For example, a web address should NOT appear in the citation like this:

“Whether organising a training series, booking an AGM or planning a convention for 500 delegates, Hilton will ensure that the customers’ experience is as hassle-free as possible” (http://www.hilton.co.uk/PlanAnEvent/500_PlanAnEvent.jsp).

Instead, you would put the organisation’s name in the brackets:

“Whether organising a training series, booking the AGM or planning a convention for 500 delegates, Hilton will ensure that the customers’ experience is as hassle-free as possible” (Hilton Hotels, 2008).

The reader would now look for this reference at the end, under ‘Hilton Hotels, where the full website address is shown:

Hilton Hotels (2008) Planning an Event: For your business needs [Online] Available at: http://www.hilton.co.uk/PlanAnEvent/500_PlanAnEvent.jsp Accessed 27 March 2008

NOTE: We will cover how to construct end references for online citations in section 3. This includes an example where the article on the website has a named author, in which case you should use that for your citation and to start your reference, as normal.

2.10 What if I am citing an author from within another source? Sometimes you are reading a text and come across a quote by another author that is cited within the text. This can be a bit tricky. In an ideal world, it is usually best to go to the original source and cite it directly from there. However, if this is not possible, then you can cite the secondary author by stating that it is ‘in’ this text. Example: This is an example of how to cite an author from within another text:

i.e. do NOT put a web address in the text!

The organisation’s name will appear instead

The reader looks at the end references list to find the full reference details under the organisation name you used in the text.

Page 19: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages17

From this point on, the term ‘work process knowledge’, which incorporated this wider perspective, has become more used in contemporary debates (Fischer, 2000, in Fischer and Boreham, 2004).

The end reference for this would be listed as:

Fischer, M. and Boreham, N. (2004) "Work process knowledge: origins of the concept and current developments" in European perspectives on learning at work: The acquisition of work process knowledge, M. Fischer, N. Boreham, & B. Nyhan, eds., Cedefop, Luxembourg, pp. 12-53

Below are listed a few examples of the correct and incorrect way of citing a source within a source: Example 1: Incorrect:

“…are unwilling or unable to mitigate” (Jillson, 1998) in Smith (2004, p.204).

Example 1: Correct:

“…are unwilling or unable to mitigate” (Jillson, 1998, p.171, in Smith, 2004,

p.204). Example 2: It may be that you wish to cite the secondary source by including the name in the sentence. In this case you state the name of the person who originally made the statement and show in brackets where the reader can find the source:

Meechan (1998, in White, 2004) describes the polarization of …

The information in the brackets here tell the reader that Fischer made the original reference in his 2000 paper, but it is being cited from Fischer and Boreham’s 2004 paper.

If the reader wanted to find the original reference by Fischer 2000, they would have to find Fischer and Boreham, 2004 and look up the reference list shown at the end of that text.

This shows the reader that it was Meechan who originally made the statement in his 1998 paper, but you found it cited in White’s, 2004 paper. The reader would only find White 2004 in your end reference list. To find the Meechan paper, they would have to look up White’s paper and see the end reference list there.

Page 20: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages18

Example 3: If you are directly quoting a primary source from within a secondary source (i.e. where the later author directly quoted the original author using quotation marks), then include the page number of both the original author and the page number of the book or journal you found it in:

Whitehead (2000, p.34, in Jones, 2006, p.246) on the other hand, questions this fact, stating “in the case of the…”

2.11 Which bit of a name is used when citing? In some cultures, a person’s name is shown with the surname (family name) first and the given name last. However, Western names are usually presented with the given name first and the surname last. Make sure you use the surname when referencing an author. Example: If you were referencing a name like Pauline Appleby In the text, the reference would appear as (Appleby, 2007) i.e. NOT (Pauline, 2007) In the reference list at the end, the surname (Appleby) would be followed by the initial of the given name (Pauline): Appleby, P (2007). i.e. NOT Pauline, A (2007) or Appleby, Pauline (2007)

3. End Reference Lists

3.1 What is the difference between a Bibliography and a Reference List? This reminds us of what was stated on this subject in 1.4 and 1.5.

This shows the reader that a direct quotation from page 34 in Whitehead’s 2000 paper was quoted in Jones in 2006 on page 246. You found it in Jones’ paper. You would only show Jones in your end references. If they want to find the original Whitehead paper, then the reader would have to find Jones 2006 and check the end reference list.

Pauline is the given or personal name

Appleby is the surname or family name

Page 21: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages19

A bibliography is a list of books/articles/sources that have been read and have informed the piece of work being written. They do not necessarily have to have been mentioned in the text. Do not supply a bibliography unless you are specifically asked to supply a bibliography as well as a reference list. If your Assessment Brief only asks you for a Bibliography, then you should check with your Module Leader what they actually want. They will normally say a Bibliography which includes your References. In this case, it is permissible to merge the two. This is not the best academic practice, but you can do it if the Module Leader asks you to. For most forms of academic submissions it is more usual that you will be asked to produce a reference list, what we call here the end references. A reference list is what you provide at the end of the submission, which lists ONLY those sources ie books / articles / chapters / websites etc, which you have cited within the text.

It is very frustrating for a reader to see a citation within the text and look it up in the end reference list and find it’s not there.

Conversely, do not think you can make it look like you researched widely by

providing a reference list with 20 sources listed, but you only mention 3 of them in the text!

Doing either of these will either be penalised by your marker as bad practice, or it will cause an investigation for plagiarism to commence.

Of course, using a source for ideas and/ or words and not citing it in the text and referencing it at the end is plagiarism – see section 4.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO LINK YOUR REFERENCES:

3.2 The Purpose of End References The purpose of an end reference list is to provide enough information to enable the reader to be able to find the original article or other reference source – so make sure you provide enough information for them to be able to do so.

If you cite it in the text then it MUST appear in the END REFERENCES

If you list it in the end references then it MUST have been CITED

Page 22: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages20

References all contain the following key information: 1. The author(s) of the work (a person, people or a corporate body) 2. The year of publication 3. The title 4. Publishing data In the rest of this section are listed different types of source material and how to correctly reference them. You will first see a list of the order in which the information would be presented, followed by an example.

3.3 How would I reference a book? Example 1: A whole book Surname(s), initial(s), (year of publication) Title of Book in Italics or underlined (not both) Edition, if not 1st edition, Place of publication, Publisher

Fyall, A., Garrod, B. and Leask, A. (2003) Managing Visitor Attractions: New Directions, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann

Example 2: A chapter or section in a book that is not a first edition Surname(s), initial(s) (year) “Title of chapter in quotation marks” in Title of book in Italics, edition, Place of publication, Publisher, page numbers of chapter/section

Holloway, J. (2002) "Visitor attractions and visitor management" in The Business of Tourism, 6th edn, London, Pearson Education, pp. 181-219

Example 3: A chapter in a book where the book has no author but 3 editors Surname(s) of chapter author(s), initials (year) “Title of chapter in quotation marks” in Title of book in italics, initials and surnames of editors, eds, place of publication, publisher, pages of chapter/section

Boreham, N. (2002) "Professionalization and work process knowledge in the UK's National Health Service" in Work Process Knowledge, N. Boreham, R. Samurçay, & M. Fischer, eds., London and New York, Routledge, pp. 171-182

3.4 How would I reference a journal? Surname(s), initial(s). (year) “Title of journal article in quotation marks”, Journal name in italics or underlined (not both), volume number, issue number, pages of article Example 1:

Baum, T. (2002) "Skills and training for the hospitality sector: a review of issues", Journal of Vocational Education Training, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 343-364

Alternative correct presentations of publishing data:

Page 23: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages21

Baum, T. (2002) "Skills and training for the hospitality sector: a review of issues", Journal of Vocational Education Training, 54, 3, pp. 343-364 Or 54, 3: 343-364 Or 54 (3), pp. 343-364

Example 2:

Wall, E. and Berry, L. (2007) "The Combined Effects of the Physical Environment and Employee Behavior on Customer Perception of Restaurant Service Quality", Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 59-69

Note: If you access the journal online, download the pdf version, if there is one, as this will show the page numbers (and the figures and tables). (See 3.7 for end referencing of a journal you found online). You can see that there are permissible alternatives, as shown above. Just choose one and be consistent within your submission.

3.5 How would I reference a thesis or dissertation? Surname, initial(s). (year) title of thesis or dissertation in italics, type of award, University Example 1:

Benckendorff, P. J. (2004) Planning for the Future: A Profile of Australian Tourist Attractions, Doctor of Philosophy Thesis, James Cook University

Example 2:

Kerry, W. J. (2002) A Study of the Attitudes of Tourism Industry Professionals towards the Future of Global Tourism, Master of Science Dissertation, University of Strathclyde

3.6 How would I reference an e-journal? Author surname, A.A., (date of work). Article title. Journal title [online], xx(x), pp. xxx-xxx. Available from: http://www.exact address for item.co.uk, [accessed date]. Ahmad, N., and Gao, S., (2004). Changes, problems and challenges of accounting education in Libya. Accounting education [online], 13(3), pp. 365-390. Available from: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/raed/2004/00000013/00000003, [accessed 23.2.2005].

Note: an e-journal (here) is one which is only published online.

3.7 How would I reference a resource I found online? This is the tricky area. It depends on what it is. However, they all follow a similar basic pattern, as you will see from the examples. This includes the date they were accessed, as they will change over time.

Page 24: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages22

Example 1: An academic online article published as a .pdf Author(s), initials(s). (Year) Title of article in italics [Online] Available at: Website URL Accessed: and the date you accessed the information

Garrod, B., Fyall, A., and Leask, A. (2000) Managing Visitor Impacts at Scottish Visitor Attractions [Online] Available at: http://users.aber.ac.uk/bgg/wp1.pdf Accessed: 26 July 2007

Example 2: An academic journal article retrieved from an online journal database such as Emerald: Cite and reference it just as a standard academic article as in 3.4 above. Hence it is not reproduced here. You do not have to provide any URL. However, if you wish to, or your Module Leader wishes you to, you may give the URL. So the first part of your reference will be the full standard academic article reference and then you will say Available at: and give the rest of the online reference as in Example 1 above. Example 3: An unpublished article found on a university website Author(s), initial(s), (year) Title of article in italics [Online] Available at: Website URL Accessed: and the date you accessed the information

Lester, S. (1999) An introduction to phenomenological research, An unpublished paper initially produced as an input to the MProf/DProf research methods course at Middlesex University, [Online] Available at: http://www.devmts.demon.co.uk/resmethy.pdf Accessed: 30 January 2006

Example 4: Information found on a government website with no individual author

Name of organisation (year) Title of the information or a description [Online] Available at: Website URL Accessed: and the date you accessed the information

DFES (2003) 14-19 Opportunity and Excellence [Online] Available at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/14-19/docs/14-19%20Main%20doc.doc Accessed 09 November 2006

Example 5: two different pages of information from the same website Name of organisation (year followed by letter) title of information [Online] Available at: Website URL Accessed: and the date you accessed the information

Here, two different pieces of information came from the same website at the same time. In such a case, use the a and b method explained in Q6 (Section A) to differentiate the references (and the in-text citations).

Page 25: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages23

Scotexchange (2007a) Analysis of Visits 2006 by Volume, Attendance and Admission policy, table 4.1.3 [Online] Available at: http://www.scotexchange.net/vam2006analysis.pdf Accessed: 6 December 2007 Scotexchange (2007b) Top 20 Paid and Free Attractions [Online] Available at: http://www.scotexchange.net/vamtop20paid_free.pdf Accessed: 6 December 2007

Example 6: An online newspaper article with an identifiable author

Baker, M. (2004) Will boys always be boys? [Online] BBC News. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/education/3494490.stm Accessed: 17 November 2006

Example 7: An online newspaper article with no identifiable author

BBC News (2004) Tibet Tourism: Travel advice [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2346365 Accessed 26 March 2008

3.8 Things To Remember About Reference Lists:

Do NOT have different lists for different types of sources – all books, journal articles, websites etc are listed IN ONE LIST

List the references in ALPHABETICAL order by the lead author’s name or

organisation name – which you used in the citation. They are in this order so the reader can quickly find them from the citation.

Leave ONE CLEAR LINE between each reference

DO NOT DOUBLE-SPACE the references (even if you have double-spaced the essay

they are supporting)

Do not bullet-point or number the references See 3.9 below for a sample reference list.

On the next page is a sample reference list showing how one should be presented

Page 26: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages24

3.9 A Sample Reference List

Baum, T. (2002) "Skills and training for the hospitality sector: a review of issues", Journal of Vocational Education Training, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 343-364 Benckendorff, P. J. (2004) Planning for the Future: A Profile of Australian Tourist Attractions, Doctor of Philosophy Thesis, James Cook University Boreham, N. (2002) "Professionalization and work process knowledge in the UK's National Health Service" in Work Process Knowledge, N. Boreham, R. Samurçay, & M. Fischer, eds., London and New York, Routledge, pp. 171-182 Fyall, A., Garrod, B. and Leask, A. (2003) Managing Visitor Attractions: New Directions, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann Garrod, B., Fyall, A., and Leask, A. (2000) Managing Visitor Impacts at Scottish Visitor Attractions [Online] Available at: http://users.aber.ac.uk/bgg/wp1.pdf Accessed: 26 July 2007 Hansard (2004) Culture Media and Sport: col: 634W, para. 11 [Online] Available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/vo040202/text/40202w05.htm Accessed: 27 July 2007 Holloway, J. (2002) "Visitor attractions and visitor management" in The Business of Tourism, 6th edn, London, Pearson Education, pp. 181-219 Lester, S. (1999) An introduction to phenomenological research, An unpublished paper initially produced as an input to the MProf/DProf research methods course at Middlesex University, [Online] Available at: http://www.devmts.demon.co.uk/resmethy.pdf Accessed: 30 January 2006 Millennium Commission (2007) Creating the Commission [Online] Available at: http://www.millennium.gov.uk/about/the_commission.html Accessed: 25 July 2007 Pearce, P. and Benckendorff, P. J. (2007) "Benchmarking, Usable Knowledge and Tourist Attractions", Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism, vol. 7, no. 1/2, pp. 29-52 Scotexchange (2007a) Analysis of Visits 2006 by Volume, Attendance and Admission policy, table 4.1.3 [Online] Available at: http://www.scotexchange.net/vam2006analysis.pdf Accessed: 6 December 2007 Scotexchange (2007b) Top 20 Paid and Free Attractions [Online] Available at: http://www.scotexchange.net/vamtop20paid_free.pdf Accessed: 6 December 2007 Scottish Enterprise (2007) World Class Visitor Attractions, Glasgow: Scottish Enterprise, [Online] Available at: http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/worldclassvisitorattractions Accessed: 25 July 2007 Scottish Executive (2007) Visitor Experience and Perceptions of Transport Supply in Scotland. Chapter 5, para 5.12 [Online] Available at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/04/30170641/6/Q/Zoom/80 Accessed: 24 July 2007

Page 27: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages25

4. Avoiding plagiarism

4.1 What is plagiarism? Plagiarism at Edinburgh Napier is defined as the unacknowledged incorporation in a student’s work either in an examination or assignment of material derived from the work of another. In other words you must not attempt to pass off the work of others as your own.

4.2 Why is plagiarism serious? Plagiarism is considered a breach of academic conduct regulations which is considered a serious offence, dealt with according to the University’s Academic Conduct Regulations. These are a subset of the Student Disciplinary Regulations, located under Regulations in the Student Portal. In essence, plagiarism is regarded in universities as stealing others’ ideas and/ or words. Stealing is a serious offence. Therefore plagiarism is a serious breach of Regulations.

4.3 How would I avoid plagiarism by using my own notes? If your own notes are copying or paraphrasing others’ work, you would still need to use citations and end references. It is only if they are not that you would be safe to use them unreferenced. You will avoid allegations of plagiarism by:

ensuring that you use the correct citations within your work and provide an accurate list of references at the end of your work.

Making sure that if you copy something from a source (eg the internet), you present it as a quotation as well as citing and referencing it correctly. As 4.4 below shows, it would be better to paraphrase the source.

4.4 When can I use quotations? Quotations should not be used often. You should almost always use them to provide definitions and you can use them to highlight a major point from an important piece of work. Otherwise try not to use them. Remember that when you use a quotation it must be placed in quotation marks and the page number is required as part of the in-text citation – see 2.2. It is better if you paraphrase sources instead. Usually you will summarise their arguments as you paraphrase them – this could be called a summary. See 2.2 and Ground Rule 1.

Page 28: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages26

4.5 Do I always need to put in a citation when I paraphrase other people’s work? Yes! This is when you use your own words to outline what an author has said. It is vital that you provide a citation to the work that you used. Remember – the referencing system requires you to acknowledge the ideas of others as well as their words. Paraphrasing is about using the ideas of others. Bear in mind that if you copy an author’s work but present your copy as a paraphrase, you are guilty of stealing the author’s words. If you cite and reference this, you are effectively claiming that these are the original author’s ideas in your words; but this is incorrect – they are the original author’s words. It is a form of plagiarism. We call it False Paraphrasing – pretending to paraphrase when really you are copying. This is an easy mistake to make – don’t do it, as you may be penalised for plagiarism.

4.6 Will I be accused of plagiarism if I am reporting something that is common knowledge but don’t provide a citation? A fact can be considered common knowledge when it is widely accessible and likely to be known by a lot of people. If that is the case a citation is not required. However, as a general rule, if in doubt, provide a citation and reference. “Common knowledge” is explained in Ground Rule 2 in the appendix.

4.7 What is collusion? Collusion is basically submitting as your own work, work that has not been done by you. Or helping someone else to do this. The three types of collusion are named in 1.6 above.

4.8 How do I make sure that I don’t get accused of copying other students’ work? As part of your learning you will probably discuss with your friends the assignments that have been set, but you must make sure that the work that you prepare is your own. Move away from the group to prepare your work. You must not submit extracts from someone else’s draft or a group draft – this would be collusion. Useful guidelines would be:

Never give anyone, even your best friend, a copy of all or part of your submission or an initial draft of it. They may not be able to resist the temptation to copy it. Remember, under the Regulations, you, the provider, are deemed as guilty as them.

Never take a copy of a submission. It may have been given to others too

and you will all be accused of colluding with each other.

Protect your work from theft:

Page 29: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages27

o Change your initial password immediately and as often as requested by C&IT.

o Keep it secret – if you don’t, someone may get into your online files. o Never give access to your laptop or computer. o Never lend anyone your memory stick o Never give your coursework to anyone to print or submit for you. o If you print out your drafts, never let them out of your sight. o If someone steals your work, you will be accused of colluding with them.

The evidence will suggest strongly that you did. You will have to prove you didn’t. This is difficult.

4.9 What happens if I am suspected of plagiarism? When investigating potential plagiarism and collusion, Academic Conduct Officers (ACOs) make use of Turnitin software to identify sections of text which match external sources and to evaluate these matches for plagiarism. If you find yourself in the position of being investigated about potential academic misconduct, you will be asked to attend a meeting to discuss the suspected plagiarism. This meeting will be conducted in line with the University’s Academic Conduct Regulations. If there are lots of cases, the ACO may set out the case against you and ask you to respond by email or by requesting a meeting. If you are studying an Edinburgh Napier programme overseas, the ACO may invite you to correspond with them by email instead. If you are found to have committed a breach of Academic Conduct Regulations, you will be penalised by the ACO. This often involves failure and reassessment (if reassessment is still available – you may have plagiarised a reassessment, so it won’t be). Second breaches are considered more serious and may be dealt with by the University Academic Conduct Committee, who can go as far as expelling you from the University. Make sure you follow these Referencing Guidelines and advice on academic writing (the Library and Avoiding Plagiarism in the Student Portal all have some) to make sure you do not find yourself accused of academic misconduct.

4.10 Where can I find out more about how the University handles cases of suspected plagiarism? Read the Student Disciplinary Regulations (Section 11 onwards), accessed via Regulations in the Student Portal.

Page 30: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages28

5. Using Turnitin®UK

5.1 What is an acceptable percentage of matching text? The overall percentage is an accumulation of all the individual percentage matches, regardless of whether they are inconsequential or substantial matches. So there is not really an acceptable percentage as such, because this value can be arrived at in different ways. For instance, numerous small matches can result in a large overall percentage which is relatively unimportant, but a small overall percentage may be the result of one or two copied paragraphs and this is more significant. Therefore you should examine all the matches and understand why Turnitin has highlighted them. It is possible to reduce the overall percentage by excluding quoted text, small matches and the reference list.

5.2 Why does my text match sources I have not used? Turnitin does not identify the exact source of text that you have used. It simply highlights that there is matching text and lists all the sources using that text. There are usually multiple sources because websites replicate information from other websites, or an author of a piece of work will often use quotations from journals and websites and so these will all be listed as matching sources.

5.3 What if my text matches my classmates work? It is very likely that for a class assignment, some of your text will match text from other students submitting the same assignment. This will happen if you are including a departmental cover-sheet, repeating the assignment title, or using a similar reference list. Significant matches will occur in assignments using established phrases or terminology, or where assignments require the inclusion of extracts of text being discussed. Warning: Turnitin only shows matches between classmates’ work after the pre-set assignment submission date, when it is too late to change. It won’t show up in your and your classmates’ drafts before then. So don’t be fooled into thinking it has not noticed the match. It just means that it hasn’t looked for it yet!

5.4 What if my reference list/bibliography is matching other sources? It is highly likely that other authors writing about the same topic will use similar references to support their work. So your references will normally match other sources, but the manner of the match is important. They will be different matches, so they will be in different colours. If they are all in the same colour, it usually means that you have copied your references too.

5.5 How can I use quotations without matching other sources? If the quotation has been used elsewhere or the original source is on the Turnitin database, then it will show up as a match. This is not a problem, as long as you have presented it as a quote, and cited and referenced it correctly. Alternatively, you can

Page 31: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages29

set Turnitin to exclude quotes from text matching, and this will remove the match.

5.6 How significant are matches that are just a few common words? If a sentence contains several words in common with a source, then Turnitin will show the match. Often these are coincidence where a source has used the same common words. Sometimes these include commonly used, but important words in your subject, so you don’t need to reference them. You can set Turnitin to exclude small matches. Turnitin lets you specify how many words can match and still be ignored, up to a limit.

5.7 What should I do if I have sentences or paragraphs of matching text? The best option is to remove the quote, and write the information in your own words. This is preferable to a quote, because it shows the marker that you understand the point being made. If you want to keep the author’s original words, then ensure that you have presented the matching text as a quote and cited your source. This may still show up as a match (depending on the specific Turnitin settings that are in place), but this is not a problem if it is correctly presented and cited.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

These Referencing Guidelines are based on a template agreed upon by members of a University Working Party on Referencing Guidelines which was convened in 2011 and had representation from all faculties and several University departments. This text was authored by John Revuelta, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages (SMTL). Sections 1 and 4 are based on, and to a large extent reproduce the text from, the Referencing Guidelines of the School of Accounting, Financial Services and Law. These were authored by Alun Fotheringham and partly based on earlier guidelines produced by Dr Hazel Hall of the School of Computing. Sections 2 and 3 are based on, and to a large extent reproduce the text from, Referencing Tips, written by Dr Shuna Marr of the SMTL. Section 5 was provided by the University but is largely based on Using Turnitin by Joan McLatchie of the SMTL.

Page 32: Edinburgh Napier University - Guidelines for referencing ...staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/LTA/Lis… · The document explains why referencing is important

Referencing Guidelines, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages30

APPENDIX

REFERENCING GROUND RULES:

MARKING INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS The ‘ground rules’ below explain the approach to marking citations and references within assessed work and seek to reassure students on how minor errors will be treated. Please always refer to the guidelines applicable to the specific module for detailed advice on requirements, and do speak to the module leader if you are unclear about what you need to do. Marking Ground Rules for Referencing Unless specifically stated in the module assessment brief, you would not expect marks to be deducted for:

1. Using quotations. However, if you use too many quotations, the marker may not have the evidence they need to determine that you have sufficiently understood the topic and marks may be deducted as a result of that.

2. Writing about what is 'common knowledge' without including citations. As a general rule, a fact can be said to be 'common knowledge' when:

o it is widely accessible, e.g. the population of Scotland, which you would be able to find easily from numerous sources;

o it is likely to be known by a lot of people; o it can be found in a general reference resource, such as a dictionary or

encyclopedia.

3. Using minor variations in punctuation and formatting in your citations and references.

4. Using 'et al' for two or more authors (rather than for 3 or more authors that it should be used for).

5. Occasional instances of poor spelling and grammar. However, please check the assessment brief for details of assessment requirements as correct spelling and use of grammar is vital in some subjects. Your module leader can also advise. (Note: support for learners in relation to spelling, grammar etc. is available from Faculties and Student and Academic Services.)


Recommended