Citing sources A: Sources in the academic process

Citing sources A: Sources in the academic process

What are sources exactly?

If you use information or ideas from others in writing a paper or thesis, these are considered sources. Sources are used in writing papers and theses, since

  • this involves building on existing academic knowledge,
  • and doing so helps to convince readers your argumentation is sound.

Watch the video on the benefits of four types of sources, as well as their differences and similarities.

  • handbook
  • monograph
  • text bundle
  • academic journal article

 

Watch the video

Types of sources

There are many more types of sources that you can use for information or ideas, and not just textual ones either:
  • newspaper articles
  • sound recordings
  • blogs
  • interviews
  • tweets
  • images
  • annual reports
  • web pages
  • graphs & charts
  • research data
  • films
  • tables
  • archive material

It is standard practice in academia to cite your sources. However, this is not simply convention: it is much more significant. If you do not cite your sources, or do so poorly, this is considered plagiarism, meaning you are wrongly creating the impression that you thought up something you didn't. This is considered a cardinal sin in academia, and could lead to you being expelled from your degree programme. This course will teach you how to avoid plagiarism.

In some academic disciplines, a distinction is drawn between primary and secondary sources.
In the case of History, such first-hand information, which has been provided by an eyewitness, is referred to as a primary (or direct) source. Anything else is a secondary source.
In Literary Studies, research objects (e.g. novels or poems) are referred to as primary sources, while any interpretations or analyses of these are called secondary sources.

Test yourself

Why should sources be cited?

Why would you record the sources you have used, not just for yourself but for your readers too?

Ponder this and then watch the next video.

Watch the video

Reasons listed

So, the reason it's important to cite sources when writing a paper or thesis is because it:

  • allows you to show that you understand what others have said on the topic;
  • allows you to distinguish between your own ideas and those of others;
  • makes it easier to identify and look up your source;
  • acknowledges and/or thanks your source
  • shows that you are building on prior knowledge
  • increases your credibility and integrity
  • avoids plagiarism

Basics of citing

You cannot simply cite a copyrighted source. The citation must form part of your argumentation and may not quote more than is necessary for this purpose.

Common knowledge

Whenever you are discussing facts and opinions that can be considered general knowledge in your field, it is not necessary to cite sources.
The following statements are examples of this:

"At the beginning of the 20th century, Dutch society was strongly divided into ideological or faith-based 'pillars’."

"During the past years, the role of social media has become very important in our discipline."

Statement like these do not need to have a source cited.

Test yourself

Citing, paraphrasing and summarising

You now know why it is important to cite sources when writing a paper or thesis. This applies to all academic publications, including articles and books.

But how do you do this?

There are three ways to refer to a source in your paper.

1.         Quoting the source literally

2.         Briefly summarising the source

3.         Presenting the source in your own words (paraphrasing)

 

Watch the video

When writing a paper, you need to continually make the appropriate choice in citing sources.
Watch the following video to find out what is appropriate and why.

Back to the source

Always go back to the most original source. If you happen to read a news item on interesting findings of certain research, you cannot simply cite that item. You need to find the original study and use that as a source

 

Two steps

If you cite, paraphrase or summarise a source in your text, you must cite the source in two steps:

1. Give a brief description of the source in the text itself, or in a footnote or endnote, usually comprising a mention of the author(s), year of publication and page number(s).

2. Give the complete details of all the sources used in the reference list or bibliography. This provides readers with everything they need to look up a source.

Note that readers must also be able to find every reference (i.e. citation) made in the text in the reference list.

How to recognize a citation?

Watch the video

First, watch this video.

Test yourself

You now know what sources are, why it is important to cite them, and how to do so. You have also learned how to recognise the type of source being used in a citation.

The following section focuses on the practice of using sources when writing. You will learn how to create proper citations and will be introduced to the software that can aid in this.