Evidencing that work done by students is their own efforts is an ongoing concern for everyone involved in education, especially at university level. Students want to be able to evidence that their assessed work is theirs, and universities need to have mechanisms in place to counter the potential for students to cheat, or to undermine the authenticity of the qualification being worked towards. Unfortunately, plagiarism – both intentional and accidental or unintentional – has never been easier. The sheer amount of information readily available online that might be used in service of a piece of assessed work means that – if a student really wanted to – a piece of potentially-passable work might be quickly assembled. And even when a student has faithfully and diligently used resources (online or offline), there is the potential that if those sources aren’t referenced properly, then plagiarism may well occur (Eaton, 2021; Neville, 2016).
The University of Oxford (n.d., para. 1) defines plagiarism as “presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or without consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement”. Note that this definition doesn’t distinguish between the plagiarism being intentional or otherwise. The same point is made by Thomas Lancaster, a leading UK researcher into academic integrity, who says, “Plagiarism may be deliberate or accidental. Regardless of why this happens, this demonstrates a breach of academic integrity” (Lancaster, 2020, p.109). As noted above, plagiarism is arguably easier to commit (or to stumble into) than ever before. Fortunately, it’s also never been easier to protect your work from potential accusations of it being plagiarised too.
First, pay attention to your course. You’ll be given support, especially in the first year of your qualification, about the academic expectations of the university, of the specific requirements of the course that you’re studying, and with reference to both the individual modules and specific individual assessments that you’ll need to complete. Well-designed courses will support students to develop their study skills – including those specific to academic integrity – across the first year. You’re not expected to know everything from day one of the course, but by the end of the first year of your degree, all of the basics should be in place.
The basics include referencing. At university level you evidence what you’ve studied and how you’ve understood it through referencing your work. All each reference does is indicate where the ideas that you’re using have come from. It really is as straightforward as that. The specifics of how this is done will be taught to you as part of the course, as there are plenty of different referencing systems out there: Harvard, APA, Oscola, IEEE, MHRA, MLA and so on. Generally, you’ll only have to learn one system per course, and the rules about using them are straightforward, if sometimes detailed. Your course will provide all the information you need, but this is backed up in other places too. For example, your university’s website will offer details on how to reference, your library / learning resource centre will have study skills materials, specialists, and often support sessions available. And there are study skills books, other websites, online videos and many other forms of support to access (Shon, 2019).
That being said, referencing can be a little time-consuming. You need to keep records of what you’ve been referring to – textbooks, journal articles, websites, all of it – and this takes time. However, as I said above, it’s never been easier to do this. It’s common for your university’s library website to automatically provide you with a correctly-formatted reference for each item that you have access to, for example. Compare this to a generation ago, when students would have to compile all of this information by hand. Now, much of the referencing process is automated (McMillan & Weyers, 2012).
This is where referencing generators come in. A referencing generator is an invaluable support to students because it offers accuracy and consistency in formatting the reference that you’re creating. All you need to do is to fill in the details for the item that you’re adding to your references list. Generally, the reference generator has access to a substantial database, so it will automatically complete much of the information for you. You still have to check that all the elements that you need are there (and you can overwrite any that might need amending), but a referencing generator will do much of the work for you. This is while doing that same work accurately, consistently, and quickly.
There are different kinds of referencing generators. At one end there are complex database systems (some are subscription-based, some are free to use online, and one may be provided by your university) which can organise all of your study materials for detailed and long-term projects such as PhD theses. There are free, simple, and easy-to-use options too. All you need to do is to select the referencing system that you’re using, and start to fill in the details that you have. Generally, the ISBN number of any book that you’re using (the 13-digit number beginning 978 that’s under the book’s barcode and/or on its copyright page) or any journal article’s DOI number (these start with 10) will be all that you need. The referencing generator will do the rest for these often-used types of resource (Williams & Davis, 2017). It’s important to make sure that the generator you are using is based on the latest standards. For example, there are many APA referencing generators but these should be based on APA 7 and not an old version, since substantial changes have been made in the new version. See e.g. APA 7 Citation Generator which is a reliable and up-to-date tool.
Referencing generators are an essential tool for any student. They make your assessments easier and quicker to complete, they offer accuracy and simplicity, and they help ensure that your work is correctly presented every time. This goes a long way to not only handing in assessed work that meets the course requirements, but in doing so you’re better able to reference what you’ve used in ways that make it clear that the work is your own. There’s a learning curve, but this is what the first year of any degree course is for. The expectation is that by the end of year one, these skills are in place.
Students may be tempted to plagiarise when they’re struggling with their studies. A student who doesn’t know how to reference may find that they can’t evidence that they’ve been diligent in their working. This may also flag up a plagiarism concern. So, it’s worth your time in learning not only about your subject, but about how to study your subject. The study skills offer that your university makes can help here, not just with referencing, but with different forms of assessments, with time management, with note-taking, with managing workload and the pressures that can sometimes be experienced. Spending a little time learning how to use a referencing generator is a support here, because it’ll save you time, and it’ll ensure that you’re presenting your work in the ways that your source and subject expect. Your preferred referencing generator will soon become a key part of how you produce work. There’s no reason not to start using a referencing generator now!
References
Eaton, S. E. (2021). Plagiarism in higher education: tackling tough topics in academic integrity. Libraries Unlimited.
Lancaster, T. (2020). Avoid plagiarism. SAGE Publications.
McMillan, K., & Weyers, J. (2012). How to cite, reference & avoid plagiarism at university. Prentice Hall.
Neville, C. (2016). The Complete Guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism. Open University Press.
Shon, P. C. (2019). Cite your source. SAGE Publications.
University of Oxford. (n.d.). Plagiarism. https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism
Williams, K., & Davis, M. (2017). Referencing & understanding plagiarism. Palgrave Macmillan Education.