Reference

A Simple Guide to Harvard Referencing and Plagiarism for Students V1. 9/2010 V1. 9/2010 About this Guide This guide will help you when you are producing work for your studies at MLS. Please read it carefully and if you have any questions ask your Academic Study Skills tutor or subject tutor. You will be expected to be able to reference properly and it is essential for your studies at MLS and at other institutions in the future such as a UK University. Referencing Referencing (or citing) is used when you quote or refer to someone else’s work in your essay or assignment. It is used for a variety of reasons but mainly : To show your reading and research To acknowledge the work of others To illustrate or back up a point you are making There are many different referencing methods but the one used at MLS and in most UK Universities is known as Harvard Referencing. You should note that if you are studying Law or quoting a legal case, Harvard Referencing is not used. Your tutor will advise you on how to quote references for this. What things need referencing ' You may quote or use many different things but all will need to be referenced. Examples include : Chapter or page of a book A newspaper article A magazine (Journal) article A website page An email V1. 9/2010 Do they all have to be referenced ' Yes. Whenever you refer to or use someone else’s work you must acknowledge it. How do I reference the work ' There are two places where work must be referenced. If you are talking about something in a paragraph and need to cite a reference you should use what is called the short format. This will appear in brackets after the text you have typed from the reference and will usually just be the name (surname) followed by a comma (,) and then the date (year). Here is an example : Approximately twenty percent of people agree with this (Jones, 2008) Then, at the end of your work you should include a Bibliography or References section. Here you will quote the full reference which may include the author’s initials, title of the piece of work and who published it and where. Here is an example : Jones, F (2008). Market Research for Beginners. 5th ed. London: Smith & Preston. P87-96 Notice the style of the reference and how the different information is quoted. Is it very difficult to work out how to quote a reference ' It can be and there are lots of rules. This guide does not go into them all but your tutors at MLS can help you. V1. 9/2010 There is also a very good website which can help prepare the reference for you : www.neilstoolbox.com All you need do is enter the correct information and it can generate the necessary reference. This is quite acceptable as it shows you have obtained the information needed for the reference. Other Examples of Harvard referencing Books – Author(s), year of publication, title, edition (other than first), place of publication: publisher One author – surname followed by initials Two or more – second and third authors have initials before surname More than three authors – quote first and then use et al for the rest No author – use Anon Journals - Author(s), year of publication, title of article, title of journal, volume number (issue or part number), pages Newspapers and magazines – Author(s), year of publication, title of article, title of journal, day and month, pages Web pages - include web address and date accessed as ca. 9/2010 V1. 9/2010 Plagiarism If you copy words, sentences or paragraphs of work that someone else has written and use it in your essay or assignment without citing a reference it is called plagiarism. In academic institutions such as MLS College or UK Universities it is regarded as a very serious offence. If plagiarism is suspected you may be interviewed by senior teaching staff and questioned about the research for your work. It is very difficult to come up with new ideas yourself but what tutors are looking for is that you have carried out some research and thought about the things you have read so that you can give your own opinion. If you copy from your fellow students this is also plagiarism. Note : MLS have introduced methods to check for plagiarism from September 2010 Valid Sources for Referencing Many students will carry out their research on the Internet. There is nothing wrong with this but you must try to ensure you are looking at (and citing) original sources. For example, this means looking at the original book and citing that not a Google page which is a copy of what is in the book. Many students make this mistake when looking for diagrams or pictures to include in their work. Again, always reference from the original text the picture comes from. V1. 9/2010 What about Wikipedia ' Wikipedia is not usually regarded as a valid reference source because it allows for anyone to alter the entries made. As such it cannot be relied upon and the information contained within it may not always be accurate. MLS College would discourage you from citing Wikipedia as a valid reference source. If you are in any doubt please speak to your tutor. What about other teacher and student websites ' Websites such as tutor2u and similar sites should also not be used as valid reference sources. This is because they do not contain original work. Generally the documents contained in them will be written by tutors or other students. As such, they could be regarded as secondary sources which may not be correct. Again, MLS College would discourage you from using such websites. Where can I go for a good source of reference material ' Local public libraries will have some material available but for a good source of academic books and journals you can join the library at the nearby Bournemouth University campus at Wallisdown. It is a very short bus ride from Bournemouth Town Centre. MLS Reception can give you details of how to get there. You will not be able to take books or journals away from the University library but they do have a photocopying facility available and you can study whilst there. Please remember that when on the University campus you are a student representing MLS College and you should behave properly and take note of the University campus rules. V1. 9/2010 Where can I get more information ' If you are taking an Academic Study Skills course then your tutor should advise you about referencing and plagiarism. You can also ask your individual subject tutors. V1. 9/2010 BIBLIOGRAPHY neilstoolbox.com. (2009). A Quick Guide to Referencing. A Quick Guide to Referencing. n/a (all), all. Bournemouth University, 2009. BU guide to citation in the Harvard style. Poole: Bournemouth University. Available from: http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/citing_references/docs/Citing_Ref s.pdf ca. 9/2010 Southampton Solent University Learning and Information Service. (unknown). Referencing: The Harvard Way. Southampton Solent University Fact Sheet. n/a (all), all. Available from: http://portal-live.solent.ac.uk/library/leaflets/resources/US06.pdf ca.9/2010 V1. 9/2010 NOTES V1. 9/2010 NOTES V1. 9/2010 V1. 9/2010