4.1 Introduction

This chapter lays down some general rules and gives you some practical advice on how to acknowledge your sources. This will also help you to avoid plagiarism and inadequate referencing. This is not just to help you to avoid the penalties applicable to plagiarism and inadequate referencing, but also to help you gain a better understanding of the methods and purposes of good academic writing.

It is perfectly legitimate (and sometimes essential) to quote or paraphrase other writers’ words or to use facts, information or ideas obtained from other sources – but only if proper acknowledgment of your sources is given. But what is ‘proper acknowledgment’ and, more importantly, how do you properly acknowledge your sources?

In brief, proper acknowledgment means that when you reproduce or paraphrase another’s words, or when you use facts, information or ideas obtained from other sources, you:

• indicate that this is what you are doing
• provide sufficient information about your sources to allow your readers to consult those sources for themselves.

This chapter will give you some practical advice on:

• the nature and importance of referencing
• when to reference
• the nature of plagiarism and inadequate referencing
• citation styles
• direct copying or quoting
• paraphrasing
• using facts, information or ideas from other sources
• acknowledging your actual source
• note taking to avoid inadequate referencing.