Plagiarism and Referencing 

(Who, Where, Why, What, When, How)

As a student it is very essential to understand why we should reference. According to Massey University (2012) there are three important reasons for referencing.

•  It shows the reader that you can find and use sources to create a solid argument.
•  It properly credits the originators of ideas, theories, and research findings.
•   It shows the reader how your argument relates to the big picture.

Above are three important reasons for referencing, as students we are always using other people’s information to back up what we say and think about particular information. Weather it is a Psychology approach to how human’s think or how theorists have shaped Sociology today. Students need to always remember to give the person who said this information credit for their work.

Plagiarism is “using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.” (Indiana University. 2004)

There are many styles of referencing, Harvard Style referencing is widely used around the world to help students back up there information to avoid plagiarism. According to Indiana University (2004) you must always give credit when using other people’s opinions, theories or idea’s.  When using graphs, statistics and anything that is not common knowledge and to quote any written or spoken words of a person. 

Here is a short tutorial to guide new students of how to reference Harvard style. Also remember to familiarise yourself with your student hand book giving to you at the beginning of your college year.  

Reference List

Massey University. (2012) what is referencing? [online] Available from: http://owll.massey.ac.nz/referencing/what-is-referencing.php. Accessed: [08/12/12]

Cape Peninsula University of technology. Writing a report. [online] Available from: http://ixion.cput.ac.za/library_2/infoLit/referencing.htm. Accessed: [08/12/12]

Indiana University Bloomington. (2004) Plagiarism. [online] Available from: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml. Accessed: [07/12/12]

SAT studys. (2012) VocWorld. [online] Available from: http://vocword.com/2012/01/mastering-words-covert-engender-abrasive-plagiarism-and-tangent-plus-5-words/. Accessed: [07/12/12]