Ghanaian Graduate Students’ Knowledge of Referencing in Academic Writing and Implications for Plagiarism (original) (raw)
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Citations in Academic Writing of Undergraduate Students of National University of Lesotho
Citing other people's work is a convention in academic writing and it reflects the writer as someone who is aware of the trends or discussions going on in his/her field. It is through that awareness that writers are able to make a meaningful contribution to the existing body of knowledge. This paper examines the types, forms and functions of citations in the writing of National University of Lesotho undergraduate students. The data were collected from the discussion sections of the final year undergraduate students' research projects in six faculties at the university. Frequency counts indicated that students used a total of 374 citations. These consisted of both integral and non-integral citations. As regards to the forms, it was observed that the students used four citation forms-parentheses, source plus reporting verb phrase, footnotes and according to X structure. As regards the functions, it was observed that the students used citations mainly for attribution. That is, reporting what the cited authors said or did. They also used citations for other functions, such as comparison with other studies or establishing links between sources. The study concludes that using citations for these other purposes was an indication that students had advanced their reading and interpretive skills as they were able to establish differences or similarities between the different studies.
Referencing: Principles, Practice - and Problems
In recent years, plagiarism has been a dominant concern for higher education practitioners. However, there can be a fine line between plagiarism and poor referencing practice, and higher education institutions report that students often struggle to understand, not just the 'how', but the 'when' and 'why' aspects of referencing. This paper will, however, assert that student difficulties can stem from the inconsistencies of institutional advice, proliferation of referencing styles, and an over-emphasis by institutions on the technical presentation of sources, rather than on the principles underpinning referencing. The author will argue that academic writers, particularly students, should be encouraged by institutions to perceive referencing primarily as a tool for the development of an authentic authorial voice, rather than just as a defensive shield against accusations of plagiarism.
International Students, Writing and Referencing
The aim of this study was to identify the perceptions and experiences of international students on referencing in their UK assignments. The experiences and perceptions of 354 both home and international students currently studying at 17 UK institutions of higher education were gathered. Of this total number, 255 (72%) were international students. A quarter (25%) of the international students contacted had not encountered any major difficulties in referencing in UK assignments, and this was due in large part to the similarity in educational experiences, between what was expected of them in their home countries and in the UK. The majority of students, however, had not been expected to reference sources in their home countries in the same way as in Britain, and their knowledge of what constituted plagiarism, as defined in UK terms, was also based on different learning experiences. The main difficulties faced by students was in relation to unfamiliar forms of academic writing, understanding the complexity of the referencing styles they had encountered, integrating their own views into assignments, and avoiding plagiarism. The referencing difficulties of all students, home and international, cannot easily be separated from other writing difficulties experienced, including paraphrasing, summarising, and developing a sense of ownership or authorship of their work. The survey also considers what institutions can do to prepare international students for the often radical educational transitions they make, and concludes that more could be done in the students home countries in the forms of foundation or introduction to higher education programmes.
European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences
This study examines undergraduates’ perception on referencing which is taught to them in the course English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The objective of the research is to identify the extent to which awareness of academic referencing is perceived as significant by undergraduates at a private university where they follow EAP as a core module in their first year. The study examines the extent to which these undergraduates are adhering to their institutional academic integrity policy. An online questionnaire was administered among 400 undergraduates, inquiring about their experience in avoiding plagiarism, a form of academic dishonesty, and how much they are aware on overcoming this type of academic deceit. Additionally, attention was focused on examining how plagiarism is avoided with the advancement of technology where online based plagiarism is found to be common among undergraduates. According to the findings of the study, many undergraduates refer online resources when submittin...
Citation practices of L2 university students in first-year writing: Form, function, and stance
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2018
This study reports findings of an analysis of the citation practices of L2 undergraduate students in the context of first-year writing (FYW). Data consist of a corpus of 100 source-based research papers written by L2 students in a FYW course. Taking a multi-perspective analytical approach, we examine L2 undergraduate students' citation practices in terms of surface forms, rhetorical functions, and writer stance. Results indicate that L2 students use a restricted range of reporting structures, and they primarily use sources for attribution function to display their knowledge of the topics. Furthermore, as opposed to taking a strong positive or negative position, the findings show that L2 student writers mainly adopt a non-committal stance by merely acknowledging or distancing themselves from cited materials, suggesting that L2 students are inclined to show deference to the perceived authority of published sources. We conclude with pedagogical options for enhancing L2 university students' citation practices.