Study Skills – Using sources

Even if you're the cleverest person

in the world,

you still need to refer

to other people's work

when writing assignments.

And you need to acknowledge

the source.

You can't let the

reader think these words

and ideas came from you.

That would be plagiarism,

which is bad news.

So, let's imagine you've found

some really good sources.

What next?

How do you use these sources

in your work?

Most importantly,

you always need to reference the source.

You do this whether quoting,

paraphrasing

or summarising.

We'll look at those in a moment.

But first off,

how do you reference

someone else's work

in your writing?

You can give

a short reference in the main text,

like this,

including the author's name and

the year the

source was published.

And at the end of the essay

you include more information

about the source material.

For example:

author's name,

year of publication,

title and chapter of the book or journal,

publisher,

place of publication.

What to write varies among

different institutions, so check

your own requirements.

Now, we're referencing

economist Adam Smith's book

The Wealth of Nations.

He originally wrote this:

"The rich consume little

more than the poor,

and in spite of their natural selfishness

and rapacity…

they divide with the poor

the produce of all their improvements..."

Quite long isn't it?

And complicated.

So we can summarise it.

We take only the main ideas

and express them

in a shorter form.

"… and thus, without intending it,

without knowing it,

advance the interests

of the society,

and afford means

to the multiplication of the species."

A related skill is paraphrasing.

Here, you take a short section

and rewrite it in your

own words.

Let's look at Adam Smith again.

Take a good look at this:

"The rich are led

by an invisible hand

to make nearly the same distribution

of the necessaries

of life… among all its inhabitants."

We can paraphrase like this:

"Smith (1776) believes

an unseen force

guides the wealthy,

which ensures wealth is shared

out almost equally in society."

See how the words changed?

And we also changed the grammar.

For example, from passive voice

to active.

Remember, your writing should

always be as clear as possible.

What about quoting?

Well, Adam Smith's theory

is best known as

the 'invisible hand' theory.

It would be strange

to paraphrase this to

the 'unseen force' theory.

So when the source

material has expressed something

in a particularly interesting

or convincing way,

we often prefer

to quote directly.

For example:

"Adam Smith's view is

that the wealthy

"are led by an invisible hand",

which ensures their

wealth is shared out

through society."

But be careful not

to rely on quotes too much.

You should use them to

back up your point,

not to make the argument.

Remember to use

your own words

to express the main point, and

then use the quote as evidence.

And, if you're being asked

to discuss, evaluate

or compare,

remember to include alternative

points of view.

There we go.

Follow these tips

to help you write strong essays

and avoid plagiarism.

After all,

you are the

cleverest person in the world.