PRESENTATION

BY
PRISCILLA MAHLAN’U

Referencing and Plagiarism

 INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS REFERENCING?
➢ Referencing is a formal system of indicating when an author
‘s words or ideas have been used in academic writing, to
properly credit them (Massey University).

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
➢ Plagiarism is the process of taking other people’s words and
or ideas and pretending that they are your own
(www.scanmyessay.com).
Referencing?
➢ Referencing means acknowledging the original sources:
• in the body of your work (in text referencing or citation) and
• linking your citation to your list of work cited (also reference
list or bibliography)
➢ Material which you must acknowledge includes but is not
limited to ; exact words ‘written or spoken’ note that exact
words must be placed in quotation marks or indented
depending on the referencing style you use.
➢ In general, common knowledge or facts widely available in a
number of source do not need to be acknowledged;
however, what constitutes common knowledge and facts
varies across subject areas.
CITATION
➢It is the way you tell your readers that certain material in
your work came from another source.
➢It also give your readers the information necessary to find
that source again.
➢Citation may include information about the author or editor
o the title of the work
o the publisher
o The page numbers of the material you are referencing

Why should I cite sources?

➢ Giving credit to the original author by citing sources is the
only way to use other people’s work without plagiarizing
Two types of citation
In APA style there are two parts to every Citation:
An in text citation and a reference list citation.

1. In text citations use only a few details of the source, enough to

locate its matching reference citation in the reference list.
2. Reference list citations provide more information about the
source ,so that the reader can find it if they wish.

Example of in-text citation you use only a few basic details.

The researcher describes a virtuous person as one “who acts and
feel as he or she should , for the right reason considering the
circumstances”(Alvaro 2017,p770)
What is APA style
➢It is the style of documenting of sources used by the
American Psychological Association
➢APA in –text citation style uses the author’s last name
and the year of publication, for example
(Mahlangu,2007).
➢For direct quotations, include the page number as well,
for example: (Mahlangu,2007,p.20).
Doesn’t citing sources make my work
seem less original?
➢ Not at all.
➢ Citing sources actually helps your reader distinguish your ideas
from those of your sources.
➢ This will emphasize the originality of your own work.
➢ It also gives you greater credibility because you are
demonstrating your knowledge on the subject and your
understanding of the work that’s already been done by
others on the subject.
When do I need to cite?
➢Whenever you borrow words or ideas from another source, you
need to acknowledge that source.
➢The following situations almost always require a citation:
-Whenever you use quotes
-Whenever you paraphrase
-Whenever you use an idea that someone else has already
expressed.
-Whenever you use specific reference to the work of another
The difference between citation and referencing
➢An in text citation appeared in the body of a scholarly work,
while the list of references appears at the end of the work.

The basic elements of the citation that you need to include are:
➢Name of the author(s)
➢Year of publication
➢Page number or page range.
If you quote a source directly you must include the exact page
number in your citation or it is incomplete
➢ In the citation, you acknowledge the source of a specific part
of the text in the article.
➢ In referencing an entire list of sources which have been referred
and backs the argument of the author, is provided at the end of
the document article
Basic for Comparison Citation
Meaning Citation is the way of disclosing
within the main body, that the
quote, image, chart, statistics etc
are taken from an outside
source.
Use It informs the readers, the basic
source of information
Purpose To indicate the source of the
material taken
Placement Presented in the bracket
Information It contains information like
publication year and last name
of the author
Reference
Referencing is a list which
contains all the sources which
have been sought or cited while
writing the article or assignment.
It informs the reader, the
complete source of information
To support or criticize an
argument or point
Presented as end note or end of
the document
It contains information like
publication date, title of book/
journal, author’s name page
number
What is plagiarism?
➢Plagiarism is the process of taking other people’s word
and or ideas and pretending that they are your own.
➢Collins dictionary defines plagiarism as the practice of
using someone else’s work and pretending that it is your
own.
➢Plagiarism can also be defined as the act deliberately
trying to deceive your academic tutor by submitting
content which is not your own work.
Why does Plagiarism matter ?
➢Plagiarism is a serious problem. If you as a student are caught
plagiarizing it can have serious consequences for your future
academic and work career.
➢When you cheat through plagiarism you ultimately cheating
yourself as you have spoiled the chance to learn and develop
your knowledge on a specific subject

COMMON WAYS THAT STUDENTS PLAGIARISE

Handing in an essay that you didn’t write.
➢ Typically, the most common trap students fall into is finding an
essay online which they have been working on and submitting it.
➢Offline , some students have also relied on individuals from their
peer groups to write their academic essays for them.
➢In either case ,these are the examples of plagiarism. Chiefly,
because the words, ideas and critical arguments contained in
those essays are not the work of individual submitting it.

Failing to put a quote in quotation marks

➢ Some academic student also fall foul of not putting quotes in
quotation marks therefore it appears that they have simply
copied the work without giving credit to the original author.
➢ It is not enough to copy a large section of text and give a
reference, you also need to use quotation marks to illustrate
that is a direct quote.
➢This form of plagiarism although seemingly easy to counteract
occurs highly frequently in the world of academia as it is much
easier and quicker to insert quotes without referencing them
appropriately.

Giving incorrect information about the source of a

quotation
➢ When researching a book or academic journal, it can often
be tempting for students to utilize the source list cited by
these works to overstate the level of reading which they have
carried out.
➢ Unless the student has actually read some of the pieces cited
in the sources lists of these original texts, this can also be
considered as an element of plagiarism.
Copying sentence structure ,but changing words
around, without giving credit
➢ It is not enough to simply reword what another academic
author has said without reworking the structure of their critical
arguments.
➢ This is still considered plagiarism in the world of academia
because the student is still guilt of coping the structure of the
author’s arguments which is a key element of their delivery of
ideas.
➢ It is therefore important for the student to showcase that they
can restructure the sentence accordingly to put forward their
own original idea or interpretation.
Copying so many words or idea from a source
that it makes up the majority of your work
whether you give credit or not.
➢ Some students stream large parts of their essay from the work of
existing author in the field.
➢ Despite giving proper credit through referencing, most of their
work is still composite of other people’s ideas and critical
arguments and the students own critical insights regarding the
subject matter never emerge.
➢ It is important for the student to demonstrate that they have
the capacity to interpret the complex research topic and rely
on their own analytical skills to advance comment.
➢ This is where the student can receive high marks because in
the world of academia, the disproportionate number of
marks are earned through the researcher being able to
critically analyze the theory

CONCLUSION
➢ Plagiarism occur when an author declares the thoughts and
creation of others to be his or her own work. Avoiding
plagiarism is important. It is important to properly
acknowledge to the contributions and information made by
other people. It shows respect for their work, most importantly
you are giving credit where credit is due.
THANK YOU!!!