Richard Pears

Cite them right

A brief summary of an article or a book that also includes its reference information. Address bar: Also known as location or URL bar, it indicates the current URL, web page address, path to a local file or other item to be located by the browser. Bibliography: A list of all the sources that you consulted for your work arranged in alphabetical order by authors surname or, when there is no author, by title. For web pages where no author or title is apparent the url of the web page would be used. Browser: A program with an interface for displaying HTML files, used to navigate the World Wide Web. Citation: The in-text reference which gives brief details (e.g. author, date, page number) of the source that you are quoting from or referring to. This citation corresponds with the full details of the work (title, publisher etc.) given in your reference list or bibliography, so that the reader can identify and/or locate the work. End-text citations are more commonly known as references. Common knowledge: Facts which are generally known. Copyright: The legal protection given to authors which protects them against unauthorised copying of their work. Direct quotation: The actual words used by an author, in exactly the same order as in their original work. See Section B for more details of how to set out all quotations in your text. Ellipsis: The omission of words from speech or writing. A set of three dots ... shows where the original words have been omitted. End-text citation: An entry in the reference list at the end of your work which contains the full (bibliographical) details of information for the in-text citation. et al.: (From the Latin et alii meaning “and others”) A term most commonly used (e.g. Harvard author-date system) for works having more than three authors. The citation gives the first surname/last name listed in the publication, followed by et al. As shown here, et al. should always be in italics. Footnotes/Endnotes: Explanatory note and/or source citation either at the foot of the page or end of a chapter used in numeric referencing styles, eg MHRA. HTML: The abbreviation for hypertext markup language – the language used for writing files on the Internet. HTTP: The abbreviation for hypertext transfer (or transport) protocol. HTTP forms the set of rules for transferring files (text, images, sound etc.) on the Internet. Hypertext: A system which allows extensive cross-referencing between related sections of text. ibid.: (From the Latin ibidem meaning “in the same place”) A term which refers to a previously cited work. It is not used in the Harvard system, where works appear only once in the alphabetical list of references. Indirect quotation: A piece of text which you incorporate into your own text by making only minor changes to the wording. You must always cite and reference the quotation. Cite them right: the essential referencing guide 93 G lo sary Internet: The global computer network which provides a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardised communication protocols. In-text citation: Often known as simply the citation, this gives brief details (e.g. author, date, page number) of your source of information within your text. op.cit.: (From the Latin opere citato meaning “in the work already cited”). A term not used in the Harvard system, where works appear only once in the alphabetical list of references. Paraphrase: A restating of someone elses thoughts or ideas in your own words. You must always cite your source when paraphrasing. (See p.16 for more details and examples) Parentheses: Another name for round brackets. Peer-review: A process used in academic publishing to check that the accuracy and quality of a work intended for publication. The authors draft of a book or article is sent by an editor (usually anonymously) to experts in the subject, who suggest amendments or corrections. This process is seen as a guarantee of academic quality and is a major distinction between traditional forms of publishing such as books and journals, and information in web pages, which can be written by anyone even if they have no expertise in a subject. Plagiarism: Taking and using another persons thoughts, writings or inventions as your own without acknowledging or citing the source of the ideas and expressions. In the case of copyrighted material, plagiarism is illegal. Primary source: An original source, such as someones manuscript, diary or journal, a survey or interview, letters, autobiographies, and observations. Proper noun: The name of an individual person, place or organisation, having an initial capital letter. Quotation: The words or sentences from another information source used within your text (see also Direct quotation and Indirect quotation above). Reference: The full publication details of the work cited. Reference list: A list of references at the end of your assignment which includes the full information for your citations so that the reader can easily identify and retrieve each work (journal articles, books, web pages etc.). Secondary referencing: A piece of work that has been referred to in something you have read. See p.18 for more details and examples. Secondary source: Material that is not the original manuscript, contemporary record or document associated with an event, but which critiques, comments on or builds upon primary sources. Examples of secondary sources are textbooks, journal articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries and encyclopaedias. Short citations: Used in Numeric referencing systems, including MHRA and OSCOLA, instead of op. cit. When a work is cited for the first time, all bibliographic details are included in the footnotes/endnotes and in the bibliography reference. If a work is cited more than once in the text, the second and subsequent entries in the Cite them right: the essential referencing guide 94 G lo sary footnotes/endnotes use an abbreviated form or short citation, such as the author and title (as well as a specific page reference), so that the reader can find the full bibliographic details in the bibliography. sic: (From the Latin meaning “so, thus”) A term used after a quoted or copied word to show that the original word has been written exactly as it appears in the original text, and usually highlights an error or misspelling of the word. Summary: Similar to a paraphrase, a summary provides a brief account of someone elses ideas or work; only the main points are covered, with the details being left out. (See p.17 for more details and examples). Superscript number: A number used in numeric referencing styles (including MHRA and OSCOLA) to identify citations in the text, which is usually smaller than and set above the normal text, i.e.1 URL: The abbreviation for Uniform (or Universal) Resource Locator, the address of documents and other information sources on the Internet (e.g. http://...). verbatim: An exact reproduction (word-forword) of a sentence, phrase, quote or other sequence of text from one source into another such as your assignment. Web page: A hypertext document accessible via the World Wide Web. World Wide Web: The extensive information system on the Internet which provides facilities for documents to be connected to other documents by hypertext links. Cite them right: the essential referencing guide 95 Futher reding G. Further reading

Finding and Managing Information: Generic Information Literacy and Management Skills for Postgraduate Researchers

A gap in the linking of information literacy skills and bibliographic software usage was identified in the postgraduate researcher cohort. While the provision was available, many researchers were not integrating the finding of research information and the management of that information using bibliographic software tools. This article describes the linking of these two areas in two courses presented to postgraduate researchers and analyses the feedback from those who attended. Overall, an overwhelmingly positive response was found. Most positively received was the software training, perceived as a “new” skill, while information literacy skills were less well received, due mainly to the perception of those skills as already acquired.