Referencing in your writing
R21- 0892 MSc. Healthcare Management
Asynchronous
Introduction
- Facilitators to introduce the session
- Discuss how this session will focus on the different ways to incorporate references and how to maintain our own voice and analysis when referencing the work of others.
- We will cover what referencing is, discussing citations and reference lists as well as covering Harvard style by signposting resources (referencing/library drop-ins, referencing guide and online resources).
ILOS
- Consider why we reference in academic writing
- Discuss different ways of incorporating references into your writing
- Analyse academic writing using the ‘It says, I say, and so’ model to identify how references are used to aid critical analysis
Why do we reference?
(slide 4— slide 5)
💡 Activity 1 (5 mins): why do we reference?
- What is the purpose of referencing or the reader?
- What is the purpose of referencing for the writer?
Add your ideas to the Jamboard
⚙️ ️Activity review (5 mins): Facilitators to discuss answers/suggestions as they come in and then relate key reasons (below) why we reference.
- To inform — to tell readers information they don’t know, and show them where it came from.
- To demonstrate — to demonstrate the research that you have done, exploring the themes being discussed.
- To separate — to distinguish between your own thoughts, and the work done by others; to separate facts, opinions, and conflicting points of view.
- To acknowledge — to acknowlege which parts of the text is dependent on others research or to highlight that certain facts are accepted within field.
- To reinforce — to provide evidence or back up your points and arguement.
Incorporating the work of others in your writing
(slide 6–7)
There are a number of ways to incorporate the work of others in your writing effectively. We are going to look at three: quoting, summarising and paraphrasing.
- Quote — a direct reproduction of text produced by someone else, use quotation marks to signify a direct quotation. Use when the original words will only do and you want to make an impact. Use sapringly as this sacrifics your own voice.
- Paraphrase — use when you are re-writing another writer’s words or ideas in your own words without altering the meaning. Your version would be very similar to the original.
- Summarise — putting down the main ideas of someone else’s work in your own words. Shorter than the original text, A broad overview of important information which is relevant to the point you are making.
💡 Activity 2: Document
(slide 8)
Spend a few minutes reading through the example text on the document and then try to identify:
- Where do they quote directly? What is the author prompting you to think/feel?
- Where do they summarise
- Where do they paraphrase?
Add comments labelling each citation as either quote, summarise or paraphrase.
⚙️ ️Activity review (5 mins):
Note: there are different ways to attribute the ideas of others in your own writing; varying your practice will keep your style interesting to the reader.
- Ask open questions — do you think they’ve used the evidence well? Have they used the right method when referencing? What would be more effective? Talk about good/bad usage of each type of referencing
Reflective questions
- Now that we’ve identified them, do you recognise any referencing techniques you’ve used before?
- How has the author used different types of referencing to communicate thier point?
Maintaining a balance between incorporating references and including your own perspective/argument
(slide 9)
Academic writing is a process of considering the ideas of others, analysing these ideas and making your own argument.
Its says, I say, And so
(slide 10)
The ‘Its says, I say, And so’ model helps you seamlessly incorporate references in your writing, critically analyse and include your own reflection on the evidence.
- It says: this is the evidence/source you have used in your writing.
- I say: your analysis of the evidence/source.
- And so: an explanation of why the evidence is significant. How does your analysis enable you to answer the question? You should link the paragraph to the rest of the ideas in your paper.
💡 Activity 3: Add your annotations to the Document
(slide 11)
Return to the extract and look for examples of:
- It says: where evidence is presented
- I say: the author’s response to or analyse of the evidence
- And so: connecting the evidence and analysis to the overall point being made
Comment on the document or post your examples in the chat. To understand the ‘and so’, you may find it useful to read the abstract, below the extract
⚙️ Activity review (5 mins): Wrap up by feeding back to the group on their annotations, going over what the text does well and what it is missing. Highlight that this is not necessarily a ‘perfect’ example.
Emphasise how important it is to balance these three elements in your own writing when using references. You don’t want your work to be heavily weighted with one of the elements, as that would mean it’s lacking elsewhere. For example, presenting all of the evidence but not analysing it by including too much ‘It says.’ Suggest that learners could go through their previous work and use a different colour to highlight each element to see where they’re doing well and what they’re missing.
Being critical and reflective
(slide 12)
It says, I say, and so is a great way to ensure your critical analysis follows your presentation of evidence, before being critically linked to the overall point you are making.
It says, I say, and so is very similar to ‘what, so what, now what’
How to reference
(slide 13–15)
There are two parts to a reference: a citation within your writing, and an entry in your reference list with the full details of the source:
Citation
A citation should appear in your text whenever you refer to the ideas or work of another author. Exactly how this looks will depend on the referencing style that you use, but it often will be the author’s name and year of publication in brackets at the end of a sentence.
Direct in-text citations are when the content of the source is copied word for word, surrounded with quotation marks
Indirect in-text citations are when the content of the source if summarised or paraphrased into the authors own words
Direct citation example: Despite the activity of bands such as The Fall and The Buzzcocks in the late 70s, Bottà (2009, p.357) states that ‘there was no real urban clustering in relation to popular music.’
Indirect citation example: Popular music had little effect on urban clustering in late-70s Manchester despite a thriving scene at the time (Bottà, 2009, p.357).
Reference list
A reference list is a complete listing of all of the books, journal articles, websites and other sources that you have referred to in a piece of work. As with a citation, exactly how each entry in a reference list is formatted will depend on the style you are using.
Reference lists are ordered alphabetically by authors surname or organisation’s name
Example: Bottà, G. (2009). ‘The city that was creative and did not know: Manchester and popular music, 1976–97’. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 12 (3), pp.349–365.
Example: Mintel (2009). Books — UK — December 2009, Market Research Report. [Online]. Available at: https://reports.mintel.com/sina tra/reports/display/id=395633 (Accessed: 05 January 2010).
Summary
- Faciliator discusses the session — calling back to ILO’s
- Wrap up and ask if there’s any questions
- Direct to resources
Resources
These resources are all embedded in the Blackboard space that you’re using for this course, including information that has been shared in this session, guidance on using the Harvard Manchetser referencing style and information on useful referencing management software.
Referencing guide
My Learning Essentials
Contact the Library
- Library drop-ins and referencing drop-ins
- 24/7 Library Chat
- Email uml.teachingandlearning@manchester.ac.uk
