Referencing your Arts essay

Referencing in Arts

Overview

1. Integrating research into your prose

2. Accurately referencing your research

1. Integrating research into your prose

How to integrate research

Direct quote… or paraphrase

?

Using quotes

Use quotes sparingly, when:

1. an author has expressed a point particularly well

2. you wish to critique a point made by an author

3. you need to give a definition of a term or concept

When quoting use the exact:

• words

• punctuation

of the original…

Tips for using quotes

1. Keep quotes to a minimum (no more than 10% of your written work)

2. Enclose quoted material in double quotation marks (quotes up to 4 lines)

3. Indent and use single spacing for quotations longer than 4 lines

4. Integrate quotes smoothly into your prose by introducing them first, and commenting on them afterward.

5. Use your style manual or library guide to make sure you have provided the correct citation details.

Paraphrases

Paraphrases are more sophisticated than quotes because they require more thinking. Paraphrases require a good understanding of what an author has written so that you can put it into your own words.

Paraphrases in 6 steps

1. Understand the material

2. Identify the main idea

3. Rewrite it in your own words without looking at the original

4. Mark any words from the original with quotation marks

5. Check that you have not altered the meaning or spirit of the original

6. Check that your paraphrase is sufficiently different

Ready to write a paragraph?

Inserting quotes and paraphrases into your paragraphs takes a little care.

• Use formal language

• Use a formal, considered tone

• Introduce a quote or paraphrase and then explain what it means (don’t assume your reader will just ‘get it’)

• Build on quotes and paraphrases by linking them to your ideas.

Error #1 The scrap-book

The ‘scrapbook’ paragraph reads like a cut-and-pasted list:

There was a rise in the influence of Christianity in government

during the Howard era (Maddox, 2005). Christianity has a long

history in Australian politics (Brett, 2003). Before World War II,

Protestantism and Catholicism were essentially fused with the

then Liberal and Labour parties (Aly, 2008). Australia is

ostensibly a multicultural and multifaith society yet our Christian-

centric secularism doesn’t reflect this (Imtoual, 2005).

Each sentence focuses on a single reference.

Error #2 ‘Nice but going nowhere’

Recent research has looked at the issue of Christianity in the federal government. For example, Maddox (2005) investigated whether influences such as the family policy-oriented Lyons Forum had an impact. Her analysis showed a link between the structure of Parliament and the privileging of Christianity, and these results were echoed in the study by Randell-Moon (2007) who analysed more specifically the discourse of secular and Christian language in government.

‘Nice but going nowhere’ paragraphs don’t make their point clear:

So what?

The complete paragraph

Recent research has identified the importance of Christianity in federal government. For example, Maddox (2005) investigated the impact of the family policy-oriented Lyons Forum to the Howard government. Her analysis showed a link between the structure of Parliament and the privileging of Christianity. These results were echoed by Randell-Moon’s (2007) analysis of secular and Christian language in Howard’s discourse. Taken together, these studies reveal a sharp rise in the prominence of Christianity in the Australian government under Howard. However, it is possible these issues are actually reflective of broader religio-cultural trends rather than just the former prime minister and coalition. It is therefore vital to compare and contrast these findings to the current Labor government under Rudd, whose Anglicanism is also conspicuous.

The complete paragraph answers the ‘so what’ question:

Aha! Yes! Now I can see a case is being argued.

How does it work?

Recent research has identified the importance of Christianity in federal government. For example, Maddox (2005) investigated the impact of the family policy-oriented Lyons Forum to the Howard government. Her analysis showed a link between the structure of Parliament and the privileging of Christianity. These results were echoed by Randell-Moon’s (2007) analysis of secular and Christian language in Howard’s discourse. Taken together, these studies reveal a sharp rise in the prominence of Christianity in the Australian government under Howard. However, it is possible these issues are actually reflective of broader religio-cultural trends rather than just the former prime minister and coalition. It is therefore vital to compare and contrast these findings to the current Labor government under Rudd, whose Anglicanism is also conspicuous.

Always start with your voice

Research is smoothly

introduced, discussed and referenced.

Your voice answers the ‘so what’

question to make a case!

2. Accurately referencing your research

Which referencing style do I

use?

Which style does your discipline use?

Check your unit outline, or

ask at the Discipline

office!

The library can help!

http://libguides.library.uwa.edu.au/content.php?pid=31436&sid=411954

http://libguides.library.uwa.edu.au/mla

Use a Library Guide: eg MLA

The library hosts online

guides that tell you everything

you need to know about

citing sources in your style!

Try using EndNote software

http://libguides.library.uwa.edu.au/content.php?pid=39446&sid=289544

EndNote enables you to automatically generate your reference list and is free for

UWA students!

Contact the library to find

out more!

Ask your librarians

http://libguides.library.uwa.edu.au/social_studies

The Reid library is home to your Reference librarians! They can answer questions online and in person.

Tips for referencing Because each Discipline

uses different referencing styles, it is not possible to give specific examples here. However, here are some general principles:

• You need to follow the style guidelines exactly (including commas, spaces, italics etc!)

• Cite refereed materials. This means peer-reviewed journal articles, monographs (single-author books), edited collections by scholarly presses etc. You can check your unit guide for some quality references, and use their bibliographies to find more in the same field.

• Refrain from Wikipedia et al!

Using STUDYSmarter Resources

This resource was developed by the STUDYSmarter team at UWA for students enrolled at UWA. We are happy for our resources to be used but we would ask that you:

Do not amend them

Do not remove the STUDYSmarter or UWA logos

Give credit/reference to the STUDYSmarter team where necessary