Student Perspectives on Referencing

Colin Neville

Research objectives

• To identify student perceptions of the roles of referencing in academic writing

• To identify the main referencing problems for students

• To consider the implications for staff development

Referencing

A key purpose of referencing in academic writing is to distinguish one’s own work from the work of others

In relation to the work of others, referencing facilitates the transmission of knowledge previously admitted into the public domain.

Internet

…but with the Internet, ‘knowledge’ can easily enter the public domain – by-passing the ‘gatekeepers’.

This raises issues about the origins and ‘ownership’ of ideas…

…which can increase levels of anxiety among students about plagiarism - and can inhibit their writing.

Methodology

12 Drop-in workshops at two universities during 2008/9

Questionnaire

“Have Your Say”: online: January to March 2009

Numbers

278 students participated in the survey: (75% undergraduate) from 14 UK/HE institutions

199 female (72%)

79 male (28%)

Workshops: 77 students

‘Have your say’: 201

comments sent

Most recurrent presenting issues at the workshops (from tutor notes):

1. Secondary referencing: how to do it; when to do it2. When to reference (and when it is not necessary)3. Formatting references and bibliographies (what to

include, and in what order)4. Referencing quotations (when to do it; how to do it)5. Understanding Harvard (how to cite; where to cite in

the text)

Main referencing difficulties identified from the questionnaire (main concerns of students attending workshops):

• When to reference (42%)

• Referencing secondary sources (40%)

• Anxiety about plagiarism (40%).

The most important ranked reasons for referencing, from a choice of ten questionnaire items:

1. To acknowledge sources of evidence (60%);

2. To support own opinions, assertions or arguments; and to avoid accusations of plagiarism (53% respectively);

3. To conform to institutional norms & tutor expectations (43%).

Agreements with questionnaire statements (section 2):

a. I understand that referencing is regarded by the institution as an essential part of assignment writing and a way of avoiding plagiarism, but, to be honest, I find it rather a chore or a nuisance = 19%

b. I regard referencing as a significant part of the process of supporting my own ideas in an assignment = 29%

c. Referencing is an important way for me to acknowledge in my assignment the data, ideas, models and practices produced or developed by others = 42%

d. I feel referencing in assignments is an important part of the process of agreeing with or challenging the ideas of others = 10%

Tension in student writing

Conformity

Own ideas

‘Have your say’

• 201 replies received (77%: undergraduates) from students at 14 UK/HE institutions

• A quarter of all respondents presented entirely positive views about referencing (25% of the undergraduates; 33% of the postgraduates)

• 7% of the respondents (all undergraduates) expressed very negative views on referencing

• 69% students expressed critical views on referencing: “ I can understand why we have to reference but…”

‘ Have your say’: specific problem areas• Time management related issues

(19%)• Concerns about plagiarism; and

‘too many referencing styles’ (11% respectively)

• Critical of detail needed in a reference; and difficulties with integrating own ideas into assignments; and inconsistent tutor advice, marking & feedback (9% respectively)

‘Have your say’: comparison between undergraduates/postgraduates:

• Undergraduates & postgraduates (in proportion to their numbers): reported similar problems in relation to time management; concerns about plagiarism; and about integrating their own experiences into assignments.

• Undergraduates were the most critical of the number of referencing styles encountered

• Postgraduates expressed the most concern about tracing the origins of ideas

Wider, institutional, issues

• ‘Too many referencing styles’• Alleged tutor inconsistencies• Plagiarism – and particularly

in relation to student concerns about expressing their ‘own ideas’

Staff Development: Four connected issues

• Roles of referencing

• Referencing styles

• Tutor inconsistencies

• How students learn to reference

Plagiarism: institutional issues

• Referencing – perceived by many students primarily as a form of ‘defence’

• Students afraid to express views that someone, somewhere, may have already ‘published’ online, or elsewhere

How can we encourage students to develop their ‘own voices’ in assignments?

Selecting and managing external evidence

Owninterpretation

& argument

Developing own style of writing

Author- Name styles Consecutive Numbering

Recurrent Numbering

Name-date (Harvard)

APA MLA MHRA Chicago-Turabian Council of Science Editors (CSE)

British Standard (Running Notes)

MHRA Chicago -Turabian Oxford: Oscola

British Standard (Numeric)

Vancouver IEEE Council of Science Editors (CSE)

Too many referencing styles? Do we really need 14?

Time management difficulties

• This issue can be related to issues of referencing styles/inconsistent advice

• However, also raises issues concerning note-making and (non) use of referencing management software

Effective learning / ’study skills’: do we need a more integrated workshop

approach?

Referencing Note-making

Time management

For example:

Referencing is important

“ It stops you spouting cow dung”

(Undergraduate: Contemporary Arts Practice)

But more emphasis needs to be placed on the ‘why’ (the principles underpinning referencing), and less on the ‘how’ (: to do it)

Not just bibliographies…

Why not encourage students to add an ‘acknowledgements’ section or statement to all their assignments?