GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO

REFERENCING SKILLS &

AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

• Nukui & Peace

(2015, pp. 2-10)
• Bailey (2015, pp.
31-39)
 WHAT IS • Referencing is the
acknowledgement within a
REFERENCING? text of the external sources
of information incorporated
into it and a detailed
description of the
documents from which the
information was obtained.

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WHY REFERENCE? • To adequately identify the
original source of information
or idea (reader can verify the
source).
• To demonstrate research done
by the student/ writer.
• To avoid plagiarism.

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WHAT ARE REFERENCE • Reference sources may include the
following:
SOURCES? • Textbooks
• Periodicals (journals, magazines,
newspapers)
• Reference books (dictionaries,
encyclopaedias, atlases, almanacs)
• Electronic sources
• Telephone conversations, radio and
television news, interviews, movies, and
other such programmes may constitute
sources in some disciplines.

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W HA T I T E MS • Any information, item or idea that one may obtain
R E QU I R E from a source and use in one’s own work. This
may include any of the following:
R E F E R E NC I NG ?
• Tangible information, such as words, phrases,
sentences (such information may be
paraphrased, summarized or quoted directly)
• Statistics
• Illustrations, such as pictures, diagrams,
maps, graphs, charts, tables, figures
• Idea, style, method

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 Common knowledge does not require referencing.
WHAT ITEMS DO •

• Common knowledge is any information that is

NOT REQUIRE generally accepted and commonly known such that
it cannot be claimed to be the idea or property of
REFERENCING? one person or source.
• Example of common knowledge include the
following:
• The ozone layer is being destroyed by pollution.
• The chemical formula for water is H2O.
• The novel Animal Farm was written by George
Orwell.
• Christopher Columbus discovered America in
1492.

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HOW DO WE DO • To do adequate referencing, one must use an
appropriate or recommended referencing style.
REFERENCING?
• Referencing styles differ according to their way
or format of referencing, i.e. different styles use
different formats.
• Examples of referencing styles include the
following:
• MLA style
• APA style
• CSE style
• Chicago style
• Harvard style

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 Each style recommends two levels of
HOW DO WE DO •
referencing, namely: In-text reference and
REFERENCING? end-text reference.
• In-text reference, also called in-text
citation, is the first level and it forms part of
the essay.
• End-text reference, also referred to as
reference list, is the second level and it
occurs as a list at the end of the essay.
• In-text citations identify ideas and
infsormation obtained from sources and
direct readers to the reference list at the end
of the paper.
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 Depending on the referencing style, basically, items
ITEMS / •
used for in-text citation may include a combination of
INFORMATION any of the following:

USED FOR IN- • Last name(s) of author(s)

• Year of publication
TEXT • Page number
REFERENCING • A short version of title
• For instance, for in-text citation, MLA style uses last
name(s) of author(s) plus page number whereas APA
style uses last name(s) of author(s) plus year of
publication plus page number for direct quotations.

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 • Items that are used for a reference list
include the following:
ITEMS/INFORMATION USED
• Name(s) of author(s)
FOR END-TEXT REFERENCING • Name(s) of editor(s)
• Title and subtitle of book, journal,
magazine, newspaper
• Title and subtitle of article
• Edition number of book
• Year of publication
• Place of publication
• Name of publisher
• Page or paragraph number(s)
• Website address (URL / http /
https)

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 SAMPLE IN-TEXT CITATIONS
The most recent breakthrough in breast cancer research has discovered a gene called BRCA1 that has been
linked to breast cancer through heredity. A woman increases her lifetime risk of developing breast cancer by 85%
if she has the BRCA1 gene, and she will usually develop cancer at a younger age (American Cancer Society,
1997). Some women diagnosed with the gene feel that the risks are too great and choose, consequently, to have a
preventative mastectomy (the complete removal of the breast). Laversen and Stukane (1996) indicate that since
research is underway to develop a drug which will treat the mutation on the BRCA1 gene many women in the
future will not have to resort to such invasive techniques.
But even if a woman does not have any of the known risk factors for breast cancer, she may not be out of
danger. The National Institutes of Health reveal that most women who develop breast cancer have never had a
family history of the disease, nor do they fall into any of the other high-risk categories (1997).
Women are therefore urged to undergo yearly mammograms once they reach the age of 40, and earlier if they
suspect they may be at risk. A mammogram uses low-dose radiation to take an x-ray of the breast. In the 1990s,
mammograms used as little as 1/40 of the radiation of the 1960s and therefore are considered safe (Cancer
Information Service, personal communication, March 21, 1997). But mammograms are not fool-proof: Radiologists
estimate that 10 – 15% of cancers may be missed (American Association of Retired Persons [AARP], 1991).
 SAMPLE END-TEXT LIST
REFERENCES
American Association of Retired Persons [AARP]. (1991). Chances are you need a
mammogram: A Guide for midlife and older women [Brochure]. Washington,
DC:Author.
American Cancer Society. (1997). Cancer Facts & Figures 1997 [Home page].
Retrieved October 20, 1998 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.cancer.org/abacs.html.
Cancer Information Service (1997, March 21). Personal communication.
Laversen, N. H., & Stukane, E. (1996). The Complete Book of Breast Care. New York:
Ballantyne Books.
National Institutes of Health. (1997, January 21 – 23). NIH Consensus Statement
[Press release]. Retrieved October 20, 1998, from
http://www.odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/statemnts/cic/103/103- stmt.html.
PLAGIARISM: DEFINITION
• Plagiarism is the act of
copying or including in one’s
own work, without adequate
acknowledgement,
intentionally or
unintentionally, the work of
another, for one’s own benefit.
• Plagiarism is taking someone
else’s ideas or words and
using them as if they were
your own.

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 PLAGIARISM: • Plagiarism is the use of someone
DEFINITION else’s ideas or language as your own,
accidentally or deliberately.
• Plagiarism is “using someone else’s
words, graphics, or ideas without
giving credit” (Ebest et al., 2003: 32).
• Plagiarism is equated with theft, but
the stolen goods are intellectual
rather than material (Spatt, 1991).

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 PLAGIARISM: DEFINITION
• Plagiarism is “using someone else’s ideas or phrasing and representing
those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through
carelessness” (Guide to Writing Research Papers, 2010: 1).
NB:
1. There are different types of plagiarism. Students should conduct research
on the various types of plagiarism.
2. Students should read the University of Ghana’s plagiarism policy from the
UG Homepage.
 SOURCES/CAUSES OF PLAGIARISM
• Plagiarism most often occurs through:
• Failure to place quoted passages in quotation marks and provide
source information.
• Failure to identify the source from which a material is paraphrased
or summarized.
• Failure to give credit to any creative ideas borrowed from any
original source.
• Replacement of words of the original text with one’s own by
maintaining the same sentence structure during paraphrasing.
 • Failure to acknowledge the
source when topics or
SOURCES/CAUSES subtopics are borrowed from
authors.
OF PLAGIARISM • Failure to recognize author’s
unique way of saying something.
• Having no adequate knowledge
of documentation style.
• Not having enough time to
construct a proper academic
writing.
• Being afraid of criticism for
having too many direct
quotations.
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 IMPLICATIONS/CONSEQUENCES OF
PLAGIARISM

• Plagiarism is against the law of intellectual property.

• Plagiarism is against university rules and regulations.
• Plagiarism could result in loss of grades, failure, or expulsion
from the university.
• Plagiarism should, therefore, be avoided.
AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
• Plagiarism could be avoided through the following ways:

• Place all quoted passages in quotation marks and provide source

information, even if it is only one phrase.
• Identify the source from which you have paraphrased or summarized ideas,
just as you do when you quote directly.
• Give credit for any creative ideas you borrow from an original source. For
example, if you use an author’s anecdote to illustrate a point, acknowledge it.
• Replace unimportant language with your own, and use different sentence
structures when you paraphrase or summarize.
 AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
• Acknowledge the source if you borrow any organizational structure or
headings from an author. Do not use the same subtopics, for example.
• Put any words or phrases you borrow in quotation marks, especially an
author’s unique way of saying something.
• Learn a documentation style relevant to your discipline – testifying that
you did your research, and assuring your reader that your sources and
quotations are not fictitious.
 CONCLUDING REMARKS

• Referencing skills are the techniques that a writer uses in

acknowledging sources.
• These skills include the effective ways of paraphrasing,
summarizing, quoting, incorporating sources into one’s work, and
the effective ways of acknowledging or documenting sources.
• These skills help students to avoid plagiarism in their academic
work.
 GENERAL
REVISION

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GENERAL • This general revision gives an overview
of the major topics discussed in the
REVISION semester.
• Students should go over their notes,
weekly slides, recommended readings
and other supplementary readings for
revision.
• Students should revise details of the
topics in preparation towards the end-of-
semester assessments.

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 Lecture 1: General Introduction to
Academic Writing (Bailey 2015,
pages 3-8)
GENERAL REVISION • Discourse communities and their
characteristics
• The academic discourse community
and its characteristics
• Process approach to academic
writing
• Features of academic writing
• The relationship between reading
and writing
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 GENERAL REVISION

Lecture 2: Reading for Information: Skills and

Strategies (Bailey 2015, pages 9-18)
• Scanning (quick reading for specific information)
• Skimming (quick reading for general information)
• Close reading (critical analysis of a text)
• SQ3R (helps in remembering important points of a
text)
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LECTURE 3: PARAGRAPHING I (WYRICK 2011, PAGES
50-69; BAILEY 2015, PAGES 7, 86-90)
• Paragraph structure: 3 parts of the body paragraph:
• Topic sentence
• Supporting sentences
• Topic closure
• Principles of paragraphing:
• Unity
• Completeness
• Coherence

26
 LECTURE 4: PARAGRAPHING II (OSHIMA & HOGUE
2007, PAGES 147-159; WYRICK 2011, PAGES 50- 69)

• Introductory paragraphs
• Thesis statement
• Methods of introduction
• Concluding paragraphs
• Methods of conclusion

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 LECTURES 5&6: ESSAY STRUCTURE (WYRICK 2011, PAGES
50- 69; OSHIMA & HOGUE 2007, PAGES 147-159)

• Three parts of the essay:

• Introduction (introductory paragraph)
• Body (developmental Paragraphs)
• Conclusion (concluding paragraph)
• Inter-paragraph cohesion

28
 The structure of an essay with three body paragraphs (Lectures 5&6)

Introduction Introductory Paragraph with Thesis Statement

Using appropriate method
developmental Paragraph 1:
Topic Sentence
Support Sentences
Concluding Statement

Body developmental Paragraph 2:

Topic Sentence
Support Sentences
Concluding Statement
Developmental Paragraph 3:
Topic Sentence
Support Sentences
Concluding Statement
Conclusion Concluding Paragraph
Using appropriate method
 • Planning the Essay: Terms and
Lectures 7&8: Directives for Essays/ Titles
Essay Writing • The writing process:
(Bailey 2015, • Prewriting/ pre-drafting activities
• Writing/ drafting
pages 40-47) • Post-writing/ post-drafting activities

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 Lecture 9: Academic style (Bailey
2015, pages117- 127; Langan 2007,
pages 163-208)
• Academic Vocabulary
• Sentences
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GENERAL REVISION
Lecture 9: Academic style (Bailey 2015, pages 117-
127; Langan 2007, pages 163-208)
• Academic Vocabulary:
• Nouns
• Adjectives
• Verbs
• Adverbs

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 LECTURE 9: ACADEMIC ST YLE (BAILEY 2015,
PAGES 117- 127; LANGAN, 2007, PAGES 163-208)

• Sentences:
• Sentence fragments
• Dependent-word fragment
• -ing and to fragments
• Added-detail fragments
• Missing-subject fragments
• Run-On sentences
• Fused sentences
• Comma splices
• Sentence variety
• Simple sentence
• Compound sentence
• Complex sentence

33
GENERAL REVISION

Lecture 10: Language Issues

(Bailey 2015, pages 147-158)
• Tense
• Punctuation
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LECTURE 10: • Tense
LANGUAGE ISSUES • Simple Present tense
Present Continuous tense
(BAILEY 2015, •

• Present Perfect tense

PAGES 147-158) • Present Perfect Continuous
• Simple Past tense
• Past Perfect tense
• Past Perfect tense
• Past Perfect Continuous tense

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LANGUAGE ISSUES: PUNCTUATION
(BAILEY 2015, PAGES 147-158)
• Period (full stop)
• Comma
• Apostrophe
• Semicolon
• Colon
• Quotation marks
• Ellipsis
• Hyphen
• dash
• Slash
• Parenthesis
• Question mark
• Exclamation mark

36
 GENERAL REVISION
• Referencing:
• Definition of referencing
• Significance of referencing
• Referencing styles (APA, MLA, etc)

• Plagiarism
• Definition of plagiarism
• Implications/ consequences of plagiarism
• Types of plagiarism
• Causes of plagiarism
• Techniques of avoiding plagiarism

37
 END OF CLASS

THANK YOU

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