Session 6

APA Referencing

Referencing Workshop
Alejandra Speziali
Senior Learning Adviser

What is referencing?

Referencing means
acknowledging
another author’s
material as the
source of your work.

Image Source: Pixabay.com

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Referencing

• Why:
‒ Credibility
‒ Follow-up
‒ Avoid plagiarism
• APA Resources:
– APA 6th Manual
– Referencing guides
– Tutorials (Library site)

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism occurs when you

… “intentionally, or unintentionally, fail

to acknowledge other writers’ words,
ideas, or concepts, and/or claim the
words, ideas, and concepts as your
own.”

Source: ECU, 2018

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How can we avoid plagiarism?

1. Paraphrasing from the source text

2. In-text referencing - acknowledging

where you found the information in the
text itself

Effective paraphrasing

• What steps can you take to help you

paraphrase well?
– Read the text that you want to paraphrase
carefully, making sure that you understand it
– Check your work against the original, changing
any words or phrases that you have reproduced
from the original
• Look for synonyms, different words with the same
meanings
• Change the sentence structure – the voice (eg. active
vs passive) / part of speech (eg. verb to noun) / reduce
a clause to a phrase.
– Link the paraphrased sentence smoothly into
your own text

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Formatting In-text References

• Direct quote
– put “quotation marks” round the text (short
quotations).
– Author (s), date, page number
– No authors’ initials

Image Source: Victoria University, 2015

Formatting In-text References

• Indirect quote (paraphrasing)

– Author(s), date, NO page number
(No authors’ initials)

Image Source: Victoria University, 2015

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Which of the following paraphrases
and in-text references is correct?

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Industry experts claim that new graduates from key universities have begun to demonstrate a decreased
understanding of subject-specific knowledge, a lack of basic independent or critical thinking skills and an inability
to communicate effectively in both oral and written form.
Angus, D., & Rogerson, R. (2011). The job skills crisis: an academic debate. The Higher Education Quarterly.
5(37), 25-28.

• Recent evidence suggests that those graduating from some of the more reputable academic institutions
across the country have lower levels of specialised knowledge, an inability to think in a critical manner or to
write or speak in a meaningful way.
– No reference

• According to Angus and Rogerson (2011) new graduates from major universities have begun to show signs of
decreased technical proficiency, a lack of basic independent or critical thinking skills and an inability to
communicate effectively in both oral and written form.
– Too similar

• According to experts in the field, reputable universities are currently producing graduates with substandard
interpersonal skills, a decreased ability to apply knowledge from undergraduate courses and a major lack in
both oral and speaking skills (Angus & Rogerson, 2011).
– Incorrect paraphrase

• Experts from within the industry have found that recent graduates, from reputable academic institutions
across the country, are less likely to be able to think in a critical or independent manner, to communicate in an
academic context, or to demonstrate familiarity with the specialised knowledge specific to their qualifications
(Angus and Rogerson, 2011).
– Accurate paraphrase with change in phrasing, occasional change in sentence structure an correct in-text
referencing

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 Activity
Is this an example of
plagiarism?
Original:
Theories can be thought of as
dealing with cause-and-effect
relationships or with flows of
events in natural processes,
keeping in mind that those effects
or events are almost always
probabilistic (i.e., the cause
increases the chances of the
stated effect occurring) rather
than deterministic (i.e., the cause
always results in the stated
effect)(Reigeluth, 1999).
Activity
Is this an example of
plagiarism?
Original:
Theories can be thought of as
dealing with cause-and-effect
relationships or with flows of
events in natural processes,
keeping in mind that those effects
or events are almost always
probabilistic (i.e., the cause
increases the chances of the
stated effect occurring) rather
than deterministic (i.e., the cause
always results in the stated
effect).”
Paraphrase
Whether they are probabilistic
(i.e., the cause increases the
chances of the stated effect
occurring) or they are
deterministic (i.e., the cause
always results in the stated
effect), we can think of
theories as dealing with cause-
and-effect relationships or with
flows of events in natural
processes.
Paraphrase
Whether they are probabilistic
(i.e., the cause increases the
chances of the stated effect
occurring) or they are
deterministic (i.e., the cause
always results in the stated
effect), we can think of
theories as dealing with cause-
and-effect relationships or with
flows of events in natural
processes.
Too close to original
No in-text reference
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 Activity Paraphrase

History has demonstrated that

technology affects education
profoundly. Considering the definition
Is this an example of plagiarism? of technology broadly, one may say
that prehistoric people used primitive
Original: technologies to teach skills to their
Technology has significantly transformed
young, which assisted the
education at several major turning points in development of spoken language
our history. In the broadest sense, the first (Frick, 1991).
technology was the primitive modes of
communication used by prehistoric people
before the development of spoken language.
Mime, gestures, grunts, and drawing of figures
in the sand with a stick were methods used to
communicate - yes, even to educate. Even Text incorrectly interpreted
without speech, these prehistoric people were
able to teach their young how to catch animals
for food, what animals to avoid, which
vegetation was good to eat and which was
poisonous (Frick, 1991).

Activity Paraphrase

Instructivists hold that the "real

world," external to individuals, can
be represented as knowledge and
Is this an example of plagiarism? determines what will be understood
by individuals. This view has been
Original: shifting to a constructivist view over
Over the last ten years, there has been the past decade (van Merriënboer,
a marked change from "instructivist" 1997).
points of view to "constructivist" points
of view among instructional designers.
Instructivist points of view hold the
belief that the role of knowledge is
fundamentally to represent the real
world. In this view, meaning is
determined by the real world and is
therefore external to the learner (van Text correctly paraphrased
Merriënboer, 1997).

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Examples (direct quotes)

• Jain and Mutula (2008) discuss the benefits that individuals receive
from engaging with others in groups: In small groups the collective
“talent, experience and knowledge” of the group is made accessible
to all (p. 10).

• There are various benefits for individuals who engage with others in
groups: In small groups the collective “talent, experience and
knowledge” of the group is made accessible to all (Jain & Mutula,
2008, p. 10).

• Senge (cited in Shanahan, 2000, p. 6) argues that “Teams not

individuals are the fundamental learning unit in modern
organisations”.

• “Teams not individuals are the fundamental learning unit in modern

organisations” (Senge, cited in Shanahan, 2000, p. 6) .

Examples (paraphrasing)

• Edmondsen (2002) sounds a note of caution about the links

between team learning and productivity.

• A note of caution needs to be sounded with regard to the links

between team learning and productivity (Edmondsen, 2002).

• Firstly, according to Garvin (cited in Edmondsen, 2002) a definition

of organisational learning must include an element of change that is
brought about within the organisation as a result of learning.

• A definition of organisational learning must include an element of

change that is brought about within the organisation as a result of
learning (Garvin, cited in Edmondsen, 2002)

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End-text referencing

• Journals/articles (periodicals)
• Books, brochures and book chapters
• Audiovisual media
• Electronic media (including website
addresses)
• Conferences presentations / proceedings
• Doctoral dissertations and master’s theses
• Reports
• Figures, Tables and Charts
• Publications of Limited Circulation
• …

Formatting End-text References

Image Source: Victoria University, 2015

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Formatting Electronic Media

• DOI (Digital Object Identifier) available

– Author, date (publication date, update date
or date accessed), doi
• DOI unavailable
– Author, date (publication date, update date
or date accessed), ‘Retrieved from’ + web
address (URL)

Formatting Electronic Media

Image Source: Victoria University, 2015

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Sample Reference list

Spot the error

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. Australian Professional

Standards for Teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2017). Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers. Retrieved form https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Seligmann, Judy. (2012). Academic literacy for education students (Revised edition. ed.).
Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

Seligmann, J. (2012). Academic literacy for education students (Revised edition. ed.).
Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

Timms, M., De Velle, S.,& Lay, D. (2016). Towards a model of how learners process
feedback: A deeper look at learning. Australian Journal of Education, 60(2), 128-145.
doi:10.1177/0004944116652912

Timms, M., De Velle, S.,& Lay, D. (2016). Towards a model of how learners process
feedback: A deeper look at learning. Australian Journal of Education, 60(2), 128-
145. doi:10.1177/0004944116652912

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Summary

• Types of references:
– In-text (short version in assignment – author,
year)
– End-text (list of full details at end – separate
page)
• End-text elements:
– Who (author)
– When (year)
– What (title)
– Where (location on internet or place & publisher)

Quiz

Should you reference the following:

1 – Paraphrased text
2 – Quotations
3 – Audiovisual media

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Referencing Resources: ASC

Access to the Academic Skills Centre

Community site is from your
Blackboard home page under My
Communities

For general queries, please contact:

learningadviser@ecu.edu.au

Referencing Resources: Library

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References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2017). Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers. Retrieved form https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards
ECU. (2018). Referencing. Retrieved from http://ecu.au.libguides.com/referencing
Frick, T. (1991). Restructuring education through technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa
Educational Foundation.
Indiana University. (2014). How to recognize plagiarism. Retrieved from
https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/example2paraphrasing.html
Merriënboer, J. J. van. (1997). Training complex cognitive skills. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Educational Technology Publications.
Pixabay. (n.d.). Research [Image]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com
Pixabay. (n.d.). Questions [Image]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com
Reigeluth, C. M. (1999). What is instructional design theory and how is it changing? In C. M.
Reigeluth (ed.), Instructional-design theories and models volume II: A new paradigm of
instructional theory, (pp. 1-29). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Seligmann, J. (2012). Academic literacy for education students (Revised edition. ed.). Cape
Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Timms, M., De Velle, S.,& Lay, D. (2016). Towards a model of how learners process feedback:
A deeper look at learning. Australian Journal of Education, 60(2), 128-145.
doi:10.1177/0004944116652912
Victoria University. (2015). Library Guides. Retrieved from http://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-
referencing/getting-started-in-apa-referencing

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