ACADEMIC WRITING:
International Rules of Using Citations and References
Sally dhruva‟ Stephenson, Ed.D. Frostburg State University and Hunan Normal University Nov. 2009
What is Academic Writing?
Academic Writing is writing that: Is organized around a particular topic or question (“thesis”) Uses evidence (research) to support the writer‟s findings Lets the reader know where ideas came from through citations (Kraus, 2007)
How does East (China) differ from West (U.S.) in writing approaches?
Typical of East Values “collective knowledge” Often refers to wellknown authorities (e.g., Confucius) Ideas freely passed down and shared
Typical of West Values individual scholarship Emphasis on giving credit for authorship Concept of words or ideas as “intellectual property” (Blum, 2009)
Conflict: East vs. West
If Chinese academic writing in the past has not needed to meet Western standards, why should students now learn to do so?
The Global Academy
“China would like to make intellectual contributions to the global academic world. . . . Now that several Chinese universities are ranked in the top 100 in the world, and collaborations between Chinese and foreign scholars are common, Chinese universities have agreed to follow „international‟ notions of academic integrity, meaning that all work must declare its origins.” (Blum, 2009)
Some Other Good Reasons
Writing for an international audience Presenting at international conferences So that other researchers can study or follow up on your work, including your background information Being respected outside of China
Following International Rules
for academic writing might NOT be necessary for you if: Your work will only be published in Chinese Your work is only of interest to a Chinese audience Chinese style citations are more appropriate to your research OR Your tutor does not require you to use citations and references
You and your tutor will decide what is appropriate for your research, but as an international scholar, you will want to understand what the accepted practices are around the world.
Why use citations and references?
To direct readers to the sources of ideas in case they want to read more about the topic in the original form To show a line of reasoning To fairly acknowledge the author of the idea or words (“give credit”) Because NOT giving credit is against the rules = plagiarism. (Kraus, 2007)
The “P” Word
What is plagiarism?
“Plagiarism is the unauthorized or uncredited use of the writings or ideas of another in your writing.” (Kraus, 2007).
In other words, plagiarism is stealing.
What are the risks of plagiarism?
Depending on the case, a person who plagiarizes faces these possibilities:
Failing
an assignment Failing a class Being expelled (“kicked out”) from the university Losing his job
Real World Example
“Four papers on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) were retracted by international journals last year because of „plagiarism and fake research‟, it was reported Tuesday. Each paper had the same lead author, He Haibo, associate professor with Zhejiang University. . . .”
“He copied statistics in two articles from his Ph.D. tutor Dai Zezai, while statistics in two other articles were partially compiled by himself and copied from others. . . “ “The university added that He Haibo had been sacked.” (lost his job) (China Daily, 2009-02-04)
Two Kinds of Plagiarism
Intentional plagiarism: The person KNOWS they are copying/stealing and does so anyway.
Accidental plagiarism: The person doesn‟t realize they are plagiarizing but is doing so accidentally—still against the rules.
Examples of two types
Intentional: Finding a paper online and turning it in with your own name on it Submitting a movie review you found instead of writing your own Accidental: Forgetting to give credit for an idea/ideas or not knowing how to.
OK, I’m convinced!
I don‟t want to plagiarize!
How do I follow international rules of academic writing and use citations and references?
Some definitions
Citation: A brief indication in the body of the text which gives the source of certain word(s) or idea(s). Reference: Details about the work cited, provided in a list at the end. The list itself may be titled “Works Cited” “References,” or “Bibliography,” depending on which academic writing style is used.
More definitions
Footnotes: Small raised numbers beside a word that direct the reader to look at the bottom of the page.
Endnotes: Similar numbers, but they direct the reader to look at the end of the section or chapter for notes.
One problem is, it’s complicated.
Every field of study can choose what system, or style of academic writing, to use. And although every system has the same basic concept—making it clear where the ideas came from— the specific details vary from style to style. And there are lots of details, and they all matter.
Another Problem
Every journal has the right to decide what style they require for articles submitted for publication. Here‟s a quote from a Chinese professor of biology now teaching in America:
“Most journals have their own special requirements, such as how long the title and text should be, how to cite references and how to list references, etc. Therefore, authors will have to follow the specific guidelines, no matter if they are in China or other countries. If we change to submit a manuscript to a different journal, then we will have to change the style.” (Li, email correspondence, 2009-11-21)
What are some styles used?
In the United States, these are often used: Education (including PE), Psychology, Political Science, Geography and Economics use APA style (American Psychological Association) Literature, Linguistics, Philosophy and the Arts use MLA style (Modern Language Association) Chemistry uses ACS style (American Chemistry Society)
Law uses ALWD style (Association of Legal Writing Directors) Physics uses APS style (American Physical Society) History and Biology use Chicago Manual of Style For Math, see AMS (American Mathematical Society) recommendations
In the UK and Australia, Harvard style is often used in different fields.
How do styles differ?
They differ in how the in-text citations are written, whether footnotes are used or not, how the reference list is constructed and what it is called, and in other ways. There are many little details that need attention when following a style.
Finding help with styles
Every style has a manual that explains the specifics. There are also many websites that offer help. These are often created by universities. Here are two of them. The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue has guides for APA, MLA and Chicago: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ expand side menu “Research & Citations”
The library of the University of Auckland in New Zealand offers brief guides to APA, MLA, ACS, Chicago and Harvard: http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/ instruct/ref/ref.htm
Online citation aids
There are also websites that will help you structure your references when you type the information into a form. Here is an example of a free and easy-to-use site that can show you some basic differences in APA, MLA and Chicago styles: CiteFast Citation Generator http://www.citefast.com/#
Reference Management Software
More sophisticated programs can help managing reference data in great detail. Here are a few examples:
EndNote—$ (but free trial available)
http://www.endnote.com
Zotero—free, similar to EndNote but only works with Firefox browser (free) http://www.zotero.org
BiblioExpress—free and easy to use BiblioScape--$, professional version http://www.biblioscape.com
For more information than you‟ll ever want to know, visit “Comparison of reference management software” at Wikipedia. Includes information about several free sources and gives styles used by many programs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ comparison_of_reference_ management_software
The Reward
If you are not experienced with using citations and references, it may seem like a big challenge to incorporate these into your writing, but with some practice, you will have a well-referenced manuscript which you can be proud to share with anyone, anywhere in the world!
References (in APA format)
Blum, S. (2009). Should China copy the West on academic integrity? Retrieved Nov. 22, 2009 from http://hnn.us/ roundup/entries/86407.html China Daily. 2009-02-04. Shame of fake TCM research. Retrieved Nov. 22, 2009 from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn china/2009-02/04/content_7445200.htm
Kraus, S.D. (2007). The process of research writing. (Online textbook). Retrieved Nov. 22, 2009 from http:// stevendkraus.com/tprw. Li, H. (2009-11-21). Private email correspondence. See additional websites cited in text.