Unit 7 Responsible source use
Unit outcomes
At the end of this unit, students should be able to:
▪ Understand why it is important to find different sources to act as evidence of your
argument.
▪ Locate academically acceptable sources of evidence.
▪ Evaluate these sources in terms of credibility, relevance and reliability.
▪ Use a source as evidence in your assignment/essay.
▪ Understand what plagiarism is.
▪ Understand how to avoid plagiarism.
Words I want to understand
While reading through this unit, underline or highlight all the words you don’t understand and
look them up in a dictionary or online. Now write down the word(s) and its definition in this
block.
1. Introduction
If we refer back to Unit 6 and think about the process of answering questions we remember
that searching for an answer to the assignment question will lead you to three spaces of enquiry.
• Your own frame of reference – what you already know about the subject.
• The question – what does the question ask me to do? (This was discussed in Unit 6)
• What have others said about the topic/subject?
You can use what others have said (sources of evidence) to support your point or argument.
However, sources should only be used to provide evidence for what you want to say. Never simply
summarise a number of sources as an answer to your question, always use them in conjunction
with your own voice.
In this unit we deal with the following issue: If we assume that an argument is based on an
evaluation of multiple viewpoints and these viewpoints are the reasoning of other people (read
experts), how can I incorporate those other viewpoints into my own argument in a responsible
way and without plagiarising?
2. Responsible source use: voices and the argument
When we say argument, we do not mean a fight or a squabble, rather we mean, as Jerz (2014)
states an academic argument is “an evidence-based defence of a non-obvious position on a
complex issue”. This may seem complicated but what it means is that it is your response to a
question based on credible evidence. So, it is your voice trying to find a solution or support or
disagree with an issue by providing evidence in the form of facts, statistics, informed opinions etc.
Jerz (2014) further says that:
An academic argument is not simply a contradiction. It’s not enough to claim the other
side is wrong; your task instead is to present evidence that supports a solution that is
demonstrably better (more ethical, more economical, more effective, more durable) than
the well-thought-out, evidence-supported, and reasonable alternative you are arguing
against.
3. What counts as a source?
Any given academic argument on a topic is part of a discussion that respects multiple viewpoints
(as long as those viewpoints are backed by credible evidence).
But where do we locate these multiple viewpoints? We find them in different sources and
different types of sources. “It is important to remember that the more types of sources (e.g.
published books, subject specific journal articles, the internet, etc.) one uses, the more inclusive
and comprehensive one’s information on the topic will be” (Butler et al. 2018: 11).
Different types of sources from which we can extract evidence include: written sources, visual
sources, broadcast sources, observations and other scientific methods of enquiry. From these we
need to find the most credible and relevant sources of evidence. To help us to discover which are
the most credible and relevant we can keep in mind that each type of source also has a different
goal, audience, structure and intention. So they are written for different people with different
aims in mind. This together with the question of what you want to achieve in your assignment
should lead you to the most relevant source.
4. Different types of sources
While using a variety of sources is commendable, in academic writing there are of course
preferred sources. These sources are preferred because they are classified as more credible. In
academic writing you should preferably use books, scientific journal articles, relevant internet
articles, newspaper articles and interviews or observations.
It is important to understand and identify the differences between source types. Several source
types such as books, magazines, newspapers, e-newspapers, internet articles, journal articles,
radio and television broadcasts, blogs and podcasts to name a few differ in terms of:
• Goal of the publication or source.
• Angle or perspective applied when writing.
• Audience that the information is written for.
• Type of information presented.
• Format in which the information is presented.
It is important to keep these differences in mind when selecting a source. It is also important to
ask the following two questions:
– What can this source contribute to my argument?
– What are the shortfalls of this source?
5. Locating academically acceptable sources of evidence
There are several ways to initially locate sources.
A. Ask your lecturer or library assistant to help you to find out who the most established
authors /theorists and the most popular academic journals are, in your field of study.
• It is important to start knowing who the ‘big names’ are in your field of study.
These are the people who come up with the theories and concepts that underlie
much of what we study.
• It is also important to start looking at the most popular publications in your
field of study – you should ask which books provide core concepts, which
academic journals publish the best and latest research and which websites
contain up-to-date and relevant information.
B. You can do a library search on the topic at hand to find the most relevant information
held by the library.
• Go to http://library.nwu.ac.za/ and familiarise yourself with which types of source
you can find here.
C. You can do an internet search using Google Scholar https://scholar.google.co.za/ to
locate journal articles and books about the topic.
D. You can also look at the reference lists or bibliographies of your textbooks, study
guides and journal articles to see who the authors (people who wrote the books/articles)
are that were used when compiling the information or creating the argument.
6. Choosing sources
The most important issue when you choose relevant sources is the question: “What do I want to
achieve with the information provided in the sources?” Different sources provide us with
different types of information.
Books usually provide you with sound and extensive core information about a subject or topic
written by experts in the field. You will find theories, concepts and case studies in your text
books among others things. The books you find in the university library have been chosen by
specialists in the field and therefore present credible and reliable sources of information.
Journal articles are peer reviewed articles which feature in academic journals. These articles are
short descriptions and discussions about studies that have been conducted. They present the
most recent research and is written by experts in the field for both experts and student in the
subject field.
Internet articles can be written by anyone. Be careful when you use internet articles and only
use an internet article if you are able to evaluate it and it “passes” your evaluation.
Newspaper articles are good for up-to-date information and current affairs, but be careful,
they may be biased (one-sided) because they work on circulation numbers and therefore, they
have as a main goal to make money and may be sensationalist.
Broadcast sources such as podcasts, TED Talks and other informative videos or broadcasts (TV
and Radio) may help you understand topics better, but you can also use them as sources of
evidence. Again, be careful about finding credible broadcast sources. Make sure the person doing
the talk/lecture/cast is knowledgeable and that you can track their credentials.
7. Evaluating sources of evidence
While including many sources of evidence is good, you need to evaluate each source before you
use it. You may want to PARC the use of a source until you can establish its credibility and
relevance. To use the PARC method you need to evaluate the source by asking the following
questions:
Purpose:
1. For what purpose and audience was the source written?
2. Is it useful for answering your question? How is it relevant to your assignment – for
what purpose do you want to use the source?
Author:
1. Are the authors identifiable?
2. Are the authors’ contact details supplied?
3. What are the qualifications of the authors?
4. Are the authors subject specialists?
Recent:
1. Is the information recent or current?
2. Does it take into account recent developments in the field?
Correct:
1. Is the information accurate and correct?
2. Can information in the source be verified?
3. Are there references and is a reference list included?
If you can answer YES to these questions you most probably have a relevant and credible source
at hand.
8. How to use information from a source
When you have a source ready and you want to integrate the information from this source into
your assignment or essay, you can follow these steps.
Step 1
Read through the abstract or summary of the source and decide if it is relevant to your
study/essay/assignment.
Step 2
Highlight all the main ideas in the source. You may even want to summarise the source either
in a mind map or in a bullet list. This will make it easier for you when you have to compare what
different sources say about the same topic.
Step 3
Relate the highlighted main ideas or other relevant information to the applicable section in your
assignment. So tell yourself, this piece of information (a) will be useful if I try to make point b.
This piece of information (x) will be useful if I want to refute argument y. For this to work you will
need to have already drawn up a rough outline of your essay, for example, you will need to know
which main points you want to discuss and what your angle or argument is.
Step 4
Add the source either as an in-text reference by using a direct quotation or an indirect quotation
(paraphrase) to the relevant paragraph in your essay. Here you will have to reference – this is
when we provide the details of the source (author, year of publication and page numbers) in the
text we are writing. We do this to distinguish between our own words/ideas and that of other.
Step 5
Remember to thread the paragraphs of your essay together by linking them well.
Step 6
Remember to start building up a reference list for your assignment. A reference list is a list of
complete details of all the sources you have referred to in your text.
9. In-text referencing and the reference list
When you use information from sources, whether it is a book, an academic journal article, an
internet article and you use that information to back up your own points, to provide evidence for
your statements or to simply add information to what you are saying, you need to give credit to
the original authors. This is because you need to show that there is a difference between your
own work and that of others. We call this referencing.
There are two places that we reference when we write an assignment. These are: 1) In the text
you are writing [here you will reference any direct or indirect quotes], and 2) In the reference
list at the end of your assignment [where you provide a reference list entry for each source used].
Why do we reference here? In-text references show which ideas belong to someone else. While
the reference list entries provide the details of the sources you used in the in-text references.
At the NWU we use three different styles of referencing depending on the faculty of study.
Different disciplines make use of different referencing styles. The three styles at NWU are:
• Harvard referencing style
• APA referencing style
• Law referencing style
For the purposes of this module we will only focus on the Harvard style.
In-text referencing
An in-text reference is when you use the words (direct quote) or the ideas (indirect quote) of an
author in your own writing. [Find three in-text references in this workbook and write them
down]. There are three ways to do in-text references.
• Direct quotation
o To bring more formal (or more poetic) language into your assignment.
o To emphasize the authority of an author.
o You can also quote directly when the original author’s words are difficult to
understand or have created divergent opinions, although in this case you would
follow the direct quotation by an explanation of how you understand them.
• Indirect quotation /paraphrasing
o This is the preferred method for referencing because it shows you understand the
relation between your own work and that of other.
o Paraphrase should not closely follow the sentence structure of original work.
• Summarising
o Combining the work of several authors.
o Condensing information from a large section of work.
The basic recipe to follow to do an in-text reference is:
Author surname(s) (Year of publication: Page number (if applicable))
There are also two locations of an in-text referencing. You can either have it as part of a sentence
or at the end of the sentence. Look at the following examples.
Direct quotations
Direct quotations refer to using the exact words of the author in your assignment, indicated with
double quotation marks. Only use this when it is necessary and for a specific reason (if you want
to keep the author’s own words or create some sense of aesthetics). Don’t use direct quotations
simply because you don’t understand the source text (in fact, you need to make sure you
understand the text before you use it; especially if you quote from it). See Reference Guide (p.6)
on punctuation and use of quotation marks.
Block quote: If a direct quote becomes “too long” and runs over three lines, we make use of a
block quote. In this case, the text is indented to the right and the font may be set to one smaller
size than the one used in the rest of the text. [Find one example of a block quote in this
workbook]
Indirect quotations
Indirect quotations refer to a part of the source that you give in your own words. This is the
preferred way of quoting, as it indicates that you understand the part of the source. You do,
however, need to be sure to interpret the content and the argument correctly. Do not use and
twist a citation to your own purposes.
Summary
Summarising quotations refer to combining the work of several authors. This means that you look
at points that these authors either agree or disagree on.
Activity
Rewrite a section of the following information as 1) a direct quotation, and 2) an indirect
quotation. This information is on page 273 of the source.
The school nutrition environment provides students with opportunities to learn about
and practice healthy eating through available foods and beverages, nutrition education,
and messages about food in the cafeteria and throughout the school campus.
(Lewallen, T.C., Hunt, H., Potts‐Datema, W., Zaza, S. & Giles, W. 2015. The Whole School, Whole
Community, Whole Child model: a new approach for improving educational attainment and
healthy development for students. Journal of School Health, 85(11):pp.729-739.)
Direct quote:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Indirect quote:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reference list
You have to ensure that for every in-text reference in the written assignment there is a complete
and correct reference list entry. To do this correctly you need to familiarise yourself with the
NWU-referencing guide to correctly record the reference in the reference list. References have to
follow a strict order and they are also entered in an alphabetical order.
The basic recipe for a reference list entry is: Author (surname and initials). Year of publication.
Title of text. Additional information relevant to type of source.
Make sure you study the NWU reference guide to see the requirements for each different source
type.
10. Plagiarism
When we use the words or ideas of someone else without providing a suitable reference (an
indication that the work belongs to someone else and a direction as to where to find it) we are
plagiarising. Plagiarism is an intentional fraudulent action in which we neglect to provide credit
to the original author. Plagiarism is a serious offense with serious repercussions.
When you plagiarise you show that you:
o are not able to integrate information into your own argument.
o are not able to understand information.
o are not able to produce original content.
There is a difference between plagiarism and poor referencing technique. When you have not
refined your referencing technique you may still make small mistakes (punctuation, missing
information, wrong order etc.). However, there is no excuse for having a poor referencing
technique and you should practice referencing to avoid plagiarising.
Source: Cartoon by Pirillo & Fitz (From: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/5-most-effective-methods-for-avoiding-
plagiarism/ Date accessed: 17 July 2016.)
Different types of plagiarism
Plagiarism comes in many forms. You can plagiarize words, phrases, structures, ideas and even
stories. To prevent you from plagiarising it is useful to recognize what is considered as plagiarism.
There are different types of plagiarism.
1. Direct plagiarism / word-for word plagiarism
Here you deliberately use the exact words and phrases of another person without giving
them the necessary credit.
2. Self-plagiarism / using you own work again
This happens when you use previously submitted work (or parts of it) for another
assignment.
3. Working together on individual assignments
Because you do not reference or cite your writing partner (due to the fact that it is an
individual assignment and you are concealing their contribution) you are not crediting
their input.
4. Hiding or misrepresenting sources
When you hide a source (and pretend it is your own work) or give false information about
the source you are plagiarising.
5. Plagiarism montage / mixing
This happens when you mix different phrases from different sources into a paragraph or
sentence without quotation marks.
6. Unintentional plagiarism
This type of paraphrasing also refers to poor referencing techniques. When you
unintentionally plagiarise you may have trouble with paraphrasing or quotation marks
and citations.
7. Using too much information
When you reference too much information, for example a whole page, you demonstrate
that you are not able to integrate and paraphrase work.
Make sure you understand what plagiarism is and you will be able to avoid it in your assignments.
11. Test yourself
Do the activities below, to test whether you have understood and can apply all the theory in this
unit.
Activity 7.1 – In-text referencing
Choose the correct option according to the Harvard-style of referencing as discussed in class and
set out in the NWU Referencing Guide.
1. Circle the correct in-text reference for a direct quote from a book. (1)
“Economic borrowing can be a good thing, or a bad thing form the standpoint of
a)
the wellbeing of a country’s people” (Ndikumana & Boyce, 2006:132).
“Economic borrowing can be a good thing, or a bad thing form the standpoint of
b)
the wellbeing of a country’s people” (Ndikumana and Boyce, 2006:132).
“Economic borrowing can be a good thing, or a bad thing form the standpoint of
c)
the wellbeing of a country’s people.” (Ndikumana & Boyce, 2006:132)
“Economic borrowing can be a good thing, or a bad thing form the standpoint of
d)
the wellbeing of a country’s people (Ndikumana & Boyce)”.
Circle the correct in-text reference for an indirect quote from a book.
2. (1)
According to Cloete, Baily, Bunting and Pillay (2011:15), economic challenges
a)
have arisen due to globalisation.
According to Cloete et al. (2011:15), economic challenges have arisen due to
b)
globalisation.
According to Cloete, Baily, Bunting and Pillay (2011:15), “economic challenges
c)
have arisen due to globalisation”.
According to Cloete et al. (2011:15), economic challenges have arisen due to
d)
globalisation.
Circle the correct in-text reference for a direct quote from an internet article.
3. (1)
a) Devarajan and Fengler (2016) are of the opinion that “the average poverty rate
in sub-Saharan African countries has fallen by about one percentage point a
year.”
b) Devarajan & Fengler (2016) are of the opinion that “the average poverty rate in
sub-Saharan African countries has fallen by about one percentage point a year”.
c) Devarajan and Fengler (2016) are of the opinion that “the average poverty rate
in sub-Saharan African countries has fallen by about one percentage point a
year”.
d) Devarajan and Fengler are of the opinion that “the average poverty rate in sub-
Saharan African countries has fallen by about one percentage point a year”
(2016).
4. Circle the correct bibliographic entry for an internet article. (1)
a)
Devarajan, S. & Fengler, W. 2016. Africa’s economic boom: why the pessimists
and the optimists are both right.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/west-africa/2013-04-03/africas-
economic-boom Date of access: 10 May 2016.
Devarajan, S. and Fengler, W. 2016. Africa’s economic boom: why the
b)
pessimists and the optimists are both right.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/west-africa/2013-04-03/africas-
economic-boom Date of access: 10 May 2016.
Devarajan, S. & Fengler, W. 2016. Africa’s Economic Boom: Why The
c)
Pessimists And The Optimists Are Both Right.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/west-africa/2013-04-03/africas-
economic-boom Date of access: 10 May 2016.
Devarajan. S. and Fengler, W. 2016. Africa’s economic boom: why the
d)
pessimists and the optimists are both right. Date of access: 10
May.2016.https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/west-africa/2013-04-
03/africas-economic-boom
5. Circle the correct bibliographic entry for a journal article. (1)
Mukhebi, A.W., Perry, B.D. and Kruska, R., 1992. Estimated economics of
a)
theileriosis control in Africa. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 12(1), pp.73-85.
Mukhebi, A.W., Perry, B.D. & Kruska, R. 1992. Estimated economics of
b)
theileriosis control in Africa. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 12(1):73-85.
Mukhebi, A.W., Perry, B.D. and Kruska, R. 1992. Estimated economics of
c)
theileriosis control in Africa. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 12(1):pp.73-85.
Mukhebi, A.W. Perry, B.D. & Kruska, R. 1992. Estimated economics of
d)
theileriosis control in Africa. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 12(1), pp.73-85.
Activity 7.2 – Reference list
For each of the sources below first decide what type of source it is and then write a reference
list entry for each source.
Type of source: ___________________________________________________________________________________
(5)
Write a complete reference list entry, according to the Harvard-style, for the imprint
below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Type of source: ___________________________________________________________________________________
(5)
Write a complete reference list entry, according to the Harvard-style, for the source
below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Type of source: ___________________________________________________________________________________
(5)
Write a complete reference list entry, according to the Harvard-style, for the source
below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Type of source: ___________________________________________________________________________________
(5)
Write a complete reference list entry, according to the Harvard-style, for the source
below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Type of source: ___________________________________________________________________________________
(5)
Write a complete reference list entry, according to the Harvard-style, for the text ‘Pluto
scientists were masters of the long haul – here’s how people stick with extremely long-
term goals’.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Type of source: ___________________________________________________________________________________
Write a complete reference list entry, according to the Harvard-style, for the text ‘What
South Africa can do about youth unemployment in the short run’.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
