research & attribution

COMMUNICATIONS LL041

ResearchEvaluating online sourcesIntroduction to citation and attributionPlagiarism & paraphrasing

See also: the SEI Opinion Piece assignment

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epartment of Language Studies

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Evaluating your sources

Recall our Critical Thinking lessons about considering credibility, bias, etc. All of those come in to play when considering research sources.

Online sources pose unique challenges.

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EVALUATING WEB SOURCES

- timeliness?- author or affiliation? - author qualification? - fact-checking & editing?- citation and attribution? - bias?

Always ask yourself: what do I know about this site’s…

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THE CHALLENGES OF WIKIPEDIA

• neutral, unbiased point of view

• attribution

• balanced argument

• unity (sticking to the facts)

• quality of information

• flux and change of information

Wikipedia’s come a long way in terms of credibility. However, we can (and should!) question a wiki-article’s…

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WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

.gov

.ca

.com

.org

.net

.edu

Why does the ending of an internet address matter?

Government Educational Non-profit News/information Entertainment Persuasive Personal

Because frequently these endings indicate purpose or author.

Can you guess which is which?

WHEN RESEARCHING… Keep careful notes about your sources. In the case of

websites, note the full URL, author/organization where possible, the last updated date as well as the date you found it, because material may change and disappear. For print sources, list the page, article or book title, author’s name, publication date and location.

Take notes as you read your sources, putting quotation marks around any exact words you want to use. Note pages and paragraphs to easily find material again.

Don’t ignore a fact just because it goes against your thesis.

Be as certain as possible of your sources’ reliability.

CITATIONCitation is a method of giving credit to an

original author. In academic writing it means following a few steps:

- keeping track of who said what as you research;

- using “in-text” citation within the paragraph to show, right away, where other people’s ideas are used;

- providing a full reference listing elsewhere, which could lead an interested reader directly to the source you used.

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I CITE MY SOURCES WHEN I:

-use someone else’s original words -summarize someone else’s ideas -paraphrase someone else’s ideas -use someone else’s way of organizing a sequence of ideas -use an isolated fact -borrow an interesting term or phrase -use someone else’s diagram or illustration -borrow ideas from a speech or lecture, scientific experiment,

interview or conversation, video , film or television program that is not your own

Source: Pearson Education, Inc. 2006

I DON’T NEED TO CITE MY SOURCES WHEN I:

- employ an easy verifiable fact i.e. the boiling point of water; Picasso was an artist

- employ common knowledgei.e. Windows Vista has a lot of glitches; drunk driving costs lives

- employ an idea that is easily observable i.e. patients respond better when nurses are friendly


HOW DO I USE CITATION?There are several different acceptable methods of citation.

Your school may require one way, but a later workplace may require another. It’s up to you to discover the method expected of you.

For example, some use footnotes1, others do not. Others provide some detail within the in-text citation (such as APA’s author, date, page pattern), but then also provide a References page at the end of the document, with full source listing.

For our online class, we’ll use the APA Format.

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1. Like this. The small number works in-text to refer the reader to more info below.

APA Citation- developed and updated by the

American Psychological Association http://apastyle.apa.org/

APA is a TWO-COMPONENT citation system: it usesIN-TEXT and REFERENCE PAGE CITATION

in-text uses brackets to show the author, year & page of your source.

the References page provides a full listing of EACH source used: author(s), year of publication, publishing company or URL, etc., etc.

http://apastyle.apa.org/

Note that the in-text citation follows a definite pattern in APA:

(author’s last name, year, p.#)

- You may choose to include some of this information within your sentence, which means the parentheses will contain the rest.

- If you don’t know the author, use a key word from the title as a label.

Your in-text citation must match the by-author entry on your References page.

A reader should be able to read your paragraph, flip to the References, find the exact source you mention, and look it up him/herself if they wanted to.

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APA CITATION

EXAMPLE OF APA IN-TEXT CITATION AD(H)D is not a single condition; instead, there are three subtypes.

People with the predominantly inattentive type have trouble paying attention. Those with the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type are hyperactive and impulsive. The combined type includes all three major symptoms (DSM-IV, p. 80). Perhaps the most well known symptom of AD(H)D is hyperactivity, but Hallowell and Ratey (1994) emphasize that not all people with AD(H)D are hyperactive. Indeed, they say that many people with ADD - mostly girls and women - are quiet daydreamers (p. 153). Robertson (2000, p.17) notes that children with AD(H)D are "consistently inconsistent." That means the same student could do very well in school one month then very poorly the next (Hallowell & Ratey, 1994, p. 65). Hallowell and Ratey also point out that people with AD(H)D are sometimes able to hyper focus. That means they may focus very well on one thing for a long time and will have trouble stopping when it is time to finish.

On the References page, there should be full entries for the Hallowell & Ratey study, DSM-IV and Robertson: all the sources mentioned here.

Shettle, Andrea. APA Sample Term Paper. (2001) Retrieved June 25, 2009 from http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/writing/apa_sample.html

CITATION OR NO CITATION?

You clearly identify the source at the beginning of a paragraph that summarizes the author’s ideas about teenage drinking. Since readers should naturally assume all of the ideas in the paragraph are from the source, you don’t put additional citation.


Citation must be clear: a paragraph that blends your ideas and another’s must show whose are whose. An outside source may be cited more than once, as needed.

You skim a 325-page book entitled Using the Internet. A major theme throughout the book is that the Internet is an important technological achievement. You include this in your paper.



The notion of the internet being ‘an important technological achievement’ seems common knowledge, and wouldn’t require citation. However, any other information from this book, such as history, instructions, unique ideas or exact quotations must be cited.

In your paper, you decide to include the saying “A penny saved is a penny earned” which you find by scrolling through Bartlett’s Quotations on the Internet .



If you had used this well-known saying after thinking of it yourself, you wouldn’t need citation (unless of course, you knew the original author). Since you found it using Bartlett’s online, you must cite that source.

You find an article that takes the same position you have taken on the subject of gun control. To save time, you summarize in your paper a portion of the argument from the article since the author’s ideas are identical to your own.



Finding a source that matches your own ideas is great, but it makes citation tricky. If this article provided a new example or new approach you’d never considered, you must cite the source. Additionally, consider using exact quotes: sometimes an author expresses something perfectly, and you should give credit for that.

PARAPHRASING

It’s more detailed than a summary, which focuses on one idea.

It’s your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, but presented in new form.

The original sense remains, but the level of formality may change to suit your purpose.

Source: (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/)

WHY PARAPHRASE?

It’s better than quoting if the quote isn’t concise or interesting

It controls the temptation to quote too much

It forces you to understand the material

Source: http://www.owl.purdue.edu

PLAGIARISM = ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

= ZERO

To prevent plagiarism, understand what we mean by the term, and do what

you can to avoid it.

RECOGNIZING PLAGIARISM The following is an excerpt from an article by

William Ellis, entitled “Culture in Transition.”

World problems such as poverty, pollution, war, and hunger are inherent in the current system of world order based on nation states and economic competition. They can be solved if people know and understand one another on a global, grass roots basis. By developing people-to-people linkages irrespective of national borders, we can start to ameliorate global tensions and inequities.


YOU COPY A PARAGRAPH DIRECTLY FROM AN ARTICLE YOU FOUND.

YOU CITE THE SOURCE, BUT YOU FORGET TO PUT QUOTATION MARKS.

IS THIS PLAGIARISM?

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.LIB.SFU.CA/RESEARCHHELP/TUTORIALS/INTERACTIVE/PLAGIARISM/TUTORIAL/PLAGIARISM-PRETEST-QUIZ.HTM

YES.

YOU FIND A NEAT IDEA IN AN ARTICLE, SO YOU USE IT IN YOUR PAPER.

YOU DON’T BOTHER TO CITE THE SOURCE OF THE IDEA BECAUSE YOU’VE EXPRESSED IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

IS THIS PLAGIARISM?


YES.

YOU COPY A SHORT PASSAGE FROM AN ARTICLE YOU FOUND.

YOU CHANGE A COUPLE OF WORDS, SO THAT IT’S DIFFERENT THAN THE ORIGINAL – THIS WAY YOU DON’T NEED QUOTATION MARKS.

YOU CAREFULLY CITE THE SOURCE. IS THIS PLAGIARISM?


YES.

YOU PAY A TUTOR FOR EDITING ASSISTANCE, AND HE DRASTICALLY RE-WRITES YOUR ORIGINAL PAPER.

YOU HAND IN THIS NEW EDITED VERSION TO YOUR PROFESSOR.

IS THIS PLAGIARISM? YES.

Want more explanation? Do the full quiz here.

http://www.lib.sfu.ca/node/10442/take?quizkey=83934b0d85cf1ca2d1afa7f323552a0c

RECOGNIZING PLAGIARISM CONT’D

Problem #1 Word-for-Word Plagiarism Without Quotation Marks:

William Ellis asserts that world problems such as poverty, pollution, war, and hunger are inherent in the current system of world order based on nation states and economic competition. (2009, p.23)

How could this have been avoided?



Problem #2Failure to acknowledge the context of all quoted

material:

Ellis (2009) asserts that world problems such as poverty, pollution, war, and hunger are inherent in “the current system of world order based on nation states and economic competition.” (p.23)




Problem #3Patchwork plagiarism -- the information is re-ordered

but much of the exact wording is used

Global tensions and inequities can be solved if people begin to help one another on a grass-roots basis, moving beyond the current world order of economic competition. (Ellis, 2009, p.23)



ACCEPTABLE IN-TEXT USAGE

William Ellis argues that global problems are often a result of exploitation inherent to economic competition. He contends that “grass roots … people to people linkages irrespective of national borders” can do much to ease global tensions. (2009, p.23)


ACCEPTABLE IN-TEXT VERSION 2

According to William Ellis’ 2009 article “Culture in Transition”, global problems are often a result of exploitation that comes with economic competition. He contends that “ grass roots … people to people linkages irrespective of national borders” can do much to ease global tensions (p.23).


SIGNAL PHRASES Use these words or ones like them to clearly signal

your reader that outside material is about to appear, and name the author if possible.

According to Jess Smith… Smith says … (note: “says” is more casual in tone, particularly

when referring to written – not spoken – work) Smith writes … Robin Lee demonstrates … Lee illustrates … Lee shows … Michel Auclair thinks … Auclair contends. ..

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Use your author’s full name the first time you mention him/her. After that, refer to him/her by

LAST NAME ONLY.