PG NBS students: Referencing, RefWorks and

Turnitin

Charles Knight, Learning and Teaching Librarian

Overview

• Harvard Referencing
• RefWorks referencing software
• Avoiding Plagiarism and Turnitin
• Help

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Definitions

• Cite (v):
A verb meaning, “to quote or refer to (a passage, book, or author) in
substantiation as an authority, proof, or example” (Bailey 2011, p.22).

A signpost in the body of your writing that tells your reader that you have
used another source for information, an idea or evidence.

• Reference (n):
An entry in a list at the end of your work that offers a full description of a
source that you have cited in your writing:

Bailey, S., 2011. Academic writing: a handbook for international

students. 3rd ed. London: Routledge.
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Introductory exercise on your experience of
referencing
• Type into the chat whether you have previously had to do
referencing for your academic work
• Have you had to include citations (Smith 2011) in your work or have
you only had to do a reference list at the end?
• Did you use an author-date system or a numbered system?
• Did you have to reference direct quotes in a different way to
paraphrased/summarised information?
• Does anybody enjoy doing referencing?!

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Why is referencing important?

It serves many different functions:

• To support points with good quality, credible evidence
• To link to and position yourself within the existing research in the
field
• To demonstrate full engagement with different debates in the field
• To give others credit for their own ideas
• To build and develop an effective argument and communicate ideas
• To allow readers to distinguish your ‘voice’ that contains fresh
perspective and new ideas from the ideas of others
• To allow readers to trace and check your sources
When to reference checklist:
1. Is it a direct quotation?
2. Have you paraphrased (put in your own words) an extract?
3. Is it a summary of a piece of work / theory / study?
4. Has it been presented formally into the public domain in some way?
5. Has it been presented publicly in a tangible form?
6. Does someone, or an organisation, have an ownership of it?
7. Is it common knowledge i.e a historical fact or date?
8. Has the information/ data been collected by you during your own
original, primary research?
Where should you reference?
NON-INTEGRAL CITATION:
Complicated mobile phone conversations requiring
concentration and carefully considered responses have been
shown to impede a driver’s judgement (Svenson and Patten
2005).
INTEGRAL CITATION:
Svenson and Patten (2005) conducted a mobile phone
study in a simple simulator. They investigated the effects of a
rather complex reasoning task transmitted via loudspeakers
and responded to via a telephone headset. This extra load on
central processing resulted in impaired judgments concerning
whether the car would fit into a gap or not as well as
decreased speed.

Mostly you only include the page number

in the citation if it is a direct quote
Books
Last name, Initial.,
Year. Title. Place of
Publication: Publisher.

Johnson, S., 2019.

Succeeding at
University. Nottingham:
Nottingham Trent
University.

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Websites
Author, Year. Title [online]. Place
of publication: Publisher. Available
at: URL [Date accessed].

Shell, 2021. Our approach to

sustainability [online]. Shell.
Available at:
https://www.shell.co.uk/sustainabi
lity/our-approach-to-
sustainability.html [Accessed 20
January 2021].

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 Last name, Initial., Year
of publication. Article title.
Journals Journal title, Volume
number (Issue number),
DOI, page the article
starts-page the article
ends.
Johnson, S., 2018.
Succeeding at University.
Journal of Higher
Education [online], 10 (9),
21-23. DOI:
10.1080/59832657425986
2358 [Accessed 13 June
2019]
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Referencing The Study Skills
Handbook:
• Last name, Initial., Year. Title.
Place of Publication: Publisher.

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 Referencing the Study Skills Handbook:

 Cottrell, S.,  2013.  The Study Skills Handbook.

 4th ed. Basingstoke:  Palgrave Macmillan.

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NTU Harvard referencing guide: ‘Citing
references: A guide to NTU Library Harvard
Style’

• Available from NOW Student Help under ‘Referencing’ section

RefWorks: referencing made easy
RefWorks referencing software

• A place to store your references so you have the details of all

of the sources you have read in one place
– Transfer the details of your sources into RefWorks from Library
OneSearch
– Organise records into different folders
– Shows sources in Harvard style
– You can share references with your tutors and course members
• It works with Microsoft Word to create citations and reference
lists for you.

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Benefits of using RefWorks

• Electronic links to books and journal articles on Library Onesearch

• Can access it 24/7 on & off campus
• Easy way to keep track of what you have been reading
• Can organise records in a way that suits you
• Can help create reference lists for you in Word
• Removes your anxiety about getting your citations and references
right!
• Saves time

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 Logging in to RefWorks:
https://refworks.proquest.com/ this link also
on Library referencing webpage
• You must log in You will need
to complete a
using the
short
institutional log in
registration
option form if this is
the first time
you have
used
RefWorks

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Adding source details into RefWorks
from Library OneSearch

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Adding source details into RefWorks
from databases
Open up another tab in your browser and locate sources using the
search facility in a specific database

RefWorks: a guide for users: contains guidance for different

databases

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Organise your sources

• Organise your sources in your account by creating folders

• You can add sources to folders by using the menu commands or
clicking and dragging individual records to the folder name

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Create a bibliography
Generate a bibliography/reference list for selected references in your
account or in a specific folder

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Create a bibliography

Then select the correct referencing style for your bibliography/

reference list

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USING REFWORKS WHEN
WRITING YOUR COURSEWORK
 RefWorks can help your academic writing by adding the
citations in to your work as you write it and then using them to
generate your list of references.
 There are two in-built options for you to choose from:
 RefWorks Citation Manager - for Word 2016 onwards; you need to
install it onto your device from the Microsoft Store
 Write N Cite – for Word 2016 or older versions; if you are on campus
or using NTU Wi-Fi, you can access it through the Software Hub; off
campus you need to install it from RefWorks.

 It is important you choose ONE of these options, as you cannot

have both working simultaneously with Word.
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Write n cite

• Use this to add citations to your academic writing and automatically

generate your bibliographies
• You can install this feature into Microsoft Word on your own PC
• From on-campus launch Write’n’Cite 4.6 from the Software Hub

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RefWorks Citation Manager

• Use this on campus PCs to add citations to your academic

writing and automatically generate your bibliographies

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USING CITATION MANAGER OR
WRITE N CITE

 Full details on how to

install and use these
functions can be found
in the Library Guide to
RefWorks, which you
will find in NOW Help
and via links on the
library’s web page.

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Please note

Nottingham Trent University  is not responsible for any citation or

bibliography errors produced by any referencing management
software.

Always check your citation and bibliography output against the

appropriate authoritative style guidance.

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Advanced features
• Sharing folders with other people
– For collaborative working

• You can also export the contents of your folders to use in other
bibliography software packages after you graduate from NTU

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RefWorks help

• Help and videos on software

• Guide on Library website and on NOW Help

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Avoiding plagiarism
What is plagiarism?

Type into the chat what you think

plagiarism is and how you can avoid it
What is plagiarism?
Pretending something is
yours when it isn’t

plagiarism / n

“the taking and using as one’s own …

the thoughts, writings or inventions of
another”

Not just the words, but also ideas,

data, images, etc.
In other words…

- passing someone else's work off as your own

- paraphrasing (rewriting another person's work in your own
words) and summarising (condensing information) work without
referencing it; also not using quotation marks when making direct
quotes
- also - copying or paraphrasing your own work if you have
submitted it elsewhere (without acknowledging the fact)

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Some of the penalties for plagiarism

Characteristics of case Recommended penalty

Level 1: This is the first time the The grade for the assessment is
student has committed academic reduced to a minimum of the pass
irregularity. The extent of academic mark (40%)
irregularity is a relatively “small”
proportion or is of “limited
significance”.

Level 1: This is the first time the The assessment grade is reduced to
student has committed academic zero.
irregularity. The extent of academic
irregularity is “substantial”.

This is the third case of academic No award given or studies terminated.

irregularity at any level, where one is
at least “substantial”.

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How plagiarism can occur

By: How this could happen:

• copying sections of a work • Cutting and pasting text and
• Paraphrasing (rewriting another forgetting to include details of
where you found the information
person’s work in your own words)
• Copying the information down but
• Summarising (condensing
not noting down the source
information)
• Referencing the source at the end
And:
but not citing it in the text
• not acknowledging the original
source or authors

How to avoid it:

• Make sure that you always note down the key information about your
sources
• Proofread your draft specifically to check you’ve cited and referenced all
external sources

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How plagiarism can occur

By: How this could happen:

• not using “quotation • Forgetting to include
marks” when making them
direct quotes • Using ‘single quotation
even if: marks aka inverted
• you have acknowledged commas’ instead of
thetooriginal
How avoid it: sources or “double quotation
authors marks”
• Proofread your draft specifically to check that direct quotes all
have “double quotation marks” around them and have been
correctly cited

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How plagiarism can occur

By: How this could happen:

• copying or
paraphrasing your own
work if you have
submitted it elsewhere
(without acknowledging
the fact)
• Unaware that this is an
academic irregularity
• Poor planning –
deadline fast
approaching so it’s
easier to use something
you’ve already written

How to avoid it:

• Better time management
• If you have to use previously submitted work, then make sure
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you cite and reference it appropriately
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Tips for avoiding plagiarism

• Keep notes of all sources

• Plan ahead to leave time for referencing
• Make sure you cite and reference:
– Direct quotations from another source
– Paraphrased sentences from another source
– A summary or general overview of somebody else’s work
– Ideas not just the words
– Theories developed by a person or groups of people
• Make sure you use “double quotation marks” around direct quotes
• Proofread specifically to check for citations and references
• Proofread specifically to check for quotation marks

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Turnitin software
What is Turnitin?

• The text matching software system used at Nottingham Trent

University
• Checks students' submitted work against a large database of
other writing. This database includes student work worldwide,
published journal articles, books and webpages
• It looks for groups of words from the student work that match those
in the database and produces an originality report showing where
these matches occur. Each report shows the percentage of text from
the student work that matches an outside source

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NTU’s Turnitin Policy

• Applies to all taught courses at undergraduate and masters level

• Applies only to assessments with a significant written element
• Does not apply to practical assessments or exams
• All students are required to complete the NTU online Plagiarism
Resource
• All students will be given a single self-check opportunity (in
Dropbox draft folder) for each written summative assessment
prior to final submission
• You will also have access to your final Turnitin report
• In the (unlikely) event that Turnitin is not being used for a written
assignment, your teaching team will let you know

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Submitting files to Turnitin from NOW

For Draft and Final submissions:

1. Log in to NOW and access the appropriate Learning Room
2. Click on the Dropbox link
3. Click on the name of the relevant folder (you should have a draft
and final option for each assignment)
4. Click on Add a file and navigate to the file location to select the
relevant file/s
5. Click on Submit
Don’t waste your draft submission opportunity

Use it to identify any issues with

citing and referencing
correct use of quotations
paraphrasing
academic writing style
… before they start costing you marks!

To get the most benefit from your draft Turnitin report…

Don’t leave it until the last minute

Draft Turnitin can take up to 24 hours to process a report

submissio
n

Allow time to look at each match and

Amend, rewrite as necessary
redraft, Book a library appointment to discuss
rewrite the matches if you’re unsure about them

Final Hand in on, or before,

submissio the due date
n
Turnitin’s Originality Reports

• The Originality Report will contain your Similarity Index Score

• This score indicates the percentage of your coursework which
matches text in the Turnitin database
• Use the filter options in the Report to exclude “direct quotes” or
common phrases from your score
• For every module you will have a ‘draft’ folder where you can see
your report and also a ‘final’ folder for your final assessment where
you will see the report

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Turnitin’s Originality Reports

• There is no “ideal” score to aim for and no “pass mark”. Whatever

your Similarity Index score, you will need to look at every match to
see if you need to make changes to your punctuation or referencing.
• A high Similarity Index score may indicate an over-reliance on other
sources and not enough of your own thoughts and ideas.
• A low Similarity Index score may indicate that you have not done
enough reading.

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Accessing Turnitin Originality Reports in the
Dropbox
• Click on the Dropbox link to access the draft submission Dropbox
folder
• Click on the name of the relevant folder
Accessing Turnitin Originality Reports in the
Dropbox

Click on Files

Turnitin’s colour coding:

Blue – no matching text
Green – one word to 25%
Yellow – 26 to 50%
Orange – 51 to 75%
Red – 76 to 100%
- unable to process file

Click the coloured box (not the document title) to open the Report
Understanding Turnitin Originality Reports

Reports will open in the Feedback Studio interface, which includes the
Turnitin functionality and the GradeMark functionality.

Click the icon to

see all active layers.
You will be able to
simultaneously view
the Turnitin
Originality Report
information and any
GradeMark
information, such as
QuickMark tags and
individual tutor
comments.
Interpreting the Similarity Index Score

The Similarity Index Score is displayed

in the Red toolbar.
It indicates the percentage of the
coursework which matches text in the
Turnitin database.

Remember: Because Turnitin simply

identifies matches between your text
and text already in its database, you
need to look at every match highlighted
and decide if it needs to be amended in
any way.

The following scenarios will help…

Scenario 1: a 9% Similarity Index Score made up of
small matches between 1 and 3% each

It is quite common to see this in a long

assignment where the matches relate to quotes
or commonly used short phrases.

Filtering the match overview to exclude the

bibliography, quotations and short matches
may remove many of these.

Check all the remaining matches:

• Specific subject terms (which you can’t avoid
including) or administrative text (e,g, name /
module code / essay title) would not be
considered plagiarism.
• Text matches in your argument / discussion
may need rewriting
Scenario 2: a 20% Similarity Index Score
with a 14% match to a single online source
Viewing the Match Breakdown of this source
and the Full Source information will show
how it has been used in the assignment.

High scores like this may indicate an over

reliance on a single source, even though
the source may have been correctly cited
and referenced.

To get the best grades, you should be

researching widely around your subject, and
using a range of academic sources to
support your argument. If you are relying
too heavily on one source, make a library
appointment to discuss how to improve your
research skills and use our online resources.
Scenario 3: a 21% Similarity Index Score made
up of some large matches to individual sources
The larger matches would need to be
investigated to check that they have been
used appropriately.

If the matches are to large direct quotes

(which have been correctly cited and
referenced) then this could highlight poor
academic writing style and an inability to
paraphrase.

Paraphrasing is a specific academic skill

and is preferred to direct quotes. Speak
to the Library Learning and Teaching Team
about the basic steps to writing a good
paraphrase.
Scenario 4: a 100% Similarity Index Score

This is most likely to happen by mistake, as

a result of the Draft Submission folder being
set up incorrectly, so that final submission
version is a 100% match to the same
student’s earlier draft submission.

It could also indicate that the document is a

direct copy of a different student’s work,
either at this University or at another
University. Academic staff would investigate
if they thought this was the case.
Full Source view

Double click on any of the sources in the Match Overview list to see
the Full Source view option.

Click the icon to display the full text of matching internet sources /
published content in the right-hand frame.
Helping you to understand and avoid
plagiarism
NOW Help contains a range of support materials for students to
learn more about avoiding plagiarism:
• Turnitin: a guide for students
• Original thinking allowed: avoiding plagiarism tutorial
• Plagiarism: you be the judge
• Plagiarism: you’re only cheating yourself
• Video: How to interpret Turnitin reports

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Further help on referencing and RefWorks

• All guides are on NOW Help

• Citing References: A guide to NTU Library Harvard style
• RefWorks user guide

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 What do I do if I need help with my
studies and research?

• Finding Information
• Referencing
• Study skills
• Academic writing
• Maths and Statistics

Boots Library Study skills collection, Level 0

Who to contact for help with study skills and
Library information
– Appointments with Librarians, Maths and Statistics tutors
and student mentors– http://librarybookings.ntu.ac.uk/
– Webinars– www.ntu.ac.uk/libraryworkshops
– Guides/Videos (click on NOW Help) – https://now.ntu.ac.uk
– Library Information Direct – click on ‘Just Ask’ for instant
messaging help from Library’s webpage or email
libinfodirect@ntu.ac.uk

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