Applications on Format and References in Essay Writing

史娜威+王珊

【Abstract】This paper illustrates problems about the format and reference in composing an English dissertation. Some analysis of these issue will be dealt with from different perspectives， such as， how to write academically； be aware that all the source materials or ideas should be acknowledged； how to avoid plagiarism.

【Key words】format； reference； plagiarize； citation， sources

1. Introduction

Colleges and institutions all over the world think plagiarism in a serious way， which will affect students graduation and what is worse， should be a negative element in their future career. Therefore， colleges in some countries or in particular areas have taken action against students who plagiarize. To avoid plagiarism writers should exploit quotation marks for everything copying from the sentences that read. Writers are not supposed to copy the text literally so some changes must be advocate .Just make sure that all the sources I use are acknowledged in the text and in the list of references. However， before writing a good paper it is very wise to conceive a proposal， which can help you think in a clear， quick and logical way. Moreover， writers must understand the instructions or the description of their tutors， which will help get a satisfying records.

2. Summarizing proposal

Before conducting your research you are highly recommend to list down several related questions on separate lines or figure out some brief details of the subjects you are going to deal with to investigate a particular issue. Afterwards write down your research methodology in tables to show which research questions could help you answer and think carefully about why you have chosen a particular technique or techniques to answer a specific question. Below example is for reference：

Thesis question Research Questions Subjects Research techniques

What do you want to learn or be able to do as a result of carrying out this study？ Why？

Can you summarize this as the main ‘thesis question you want to answer？ What questions do you need to find the answers to in order to answer your ‘thesis question？

What subjects do you propose to use？ Do they match your target audience？ How many？ Why have you chosen that number？ What research techniques can you use to answer your research questions？

（Show which techniques will help you answer which questions）

3. Understanding instructions

A high level essay should include a legible and cohesive description of the answer， integrating a clear grasp of the investigation with lucid personal insights. Judges particularly like the method you exploit in correction and integrate all the theories. The extremely fabulous essay is actually a well structured， written， with a solid and distinct argument and outstanding research and reference， and a good combination of the research with some deduction to another area. It is needed an evaluation of whether this was ‘good research using appropriate methods to research proper questions. You demonstrate an essential understanding of the format and rationale of the composition. Although you consider that you have succeed to follow most of the viewpoints you make， the level of your English sometimes makes this difficult.endprint

4. Guidelines for format your references

When carrying out the research， authors must use a standard citation format to identify the information that used and give credit to its creator， here consistency is completely significant. Italicize the titles， and merely capitalize the starting word of the heading or the subtitle， and following words with a period or one space. Additional elements， for example， number of volumes， edition numbers， or Web address and date of access are required. List each source respectively； place alphabetically based on the last name and initials of the writers， or title once there is no author. The references should comprise all of， and only those， references you have quoted in the passages， which means you should not include all of what you read about but did not take either direct quotes or ideas from them. The followings are the guidance for how to format your references. Meanwhile end notes should be in Harvard form， actually you can choose your own way of referencing as long as your essay is accordant in the format. In addition， you should also lay out the reference according to your universitys directions. Book quotation must comprise as much of the following information as possible， namely， authors name， publication background， heading， publication city， and the name of the publisher. As some of the instances below demonstrate， other information often need to be listed as well：

（1） Book：

Vivian， T. （2005） Writing （2nd ed.）. Oxford：Oxford University Press.

（2） Chapter in book：

Vivian， R. and Gregory， G. （2006） The Point of Writing：Is Student Writing in Higher Education Developed or Merely Assessed？ In Ganobcsik-Williams， L. （ed.） Teaching Academic Writing in UK Higher Education. Basingstoke：Palgrave：16-29.

（3） Paper in academic journal：

Vivian， T. and Turner， J. （2001） Student Writing in Higher Education：Contemporary Confusion， Traditional Concerns. Teaching in Higher Education 6/1：57-68.

5. Citation in the text

A short citation of less than a sentence may be included in the body of the article in quotation marks with name of the writers， year and page number provided in the brackets. Once it should be a long quotation， you should start with a new line then indent it.

（1） Once the writers name show up naturally in the sentence， the year is provided in the brackets：

Example：Vivian（1980：53） suggests that ...

According to Vivian（1973：13）...endprint

（2） Once the writers name does not show up naturally in the sentence， both name and year should be provided in the brackets：

Example：Spatial imagery would not develop without sights （Serden 1932）

（3） Once you exploit a source quoted in another work you cite both in the article.

Example：. Vivian（1984， cited by Max 1986） suggests that ...

（4） Once there are two different authors， the family names of both should be provided in the brackets：

Example：Vivian and Max（1995） have demonstrated that …

（5） Once there are more than two writers， only the family names of the initial author should be provided and be followed by ‘et al：

Example：Vivian et al. （1997） showed that …

（6） Once there is no originator then ‘Anon should be applied：

Example：A recent passage （Anon 1993） considered that …

6. Plagiarism definition

The American Heritage dictionary characterize plagiarism as：the unauthorized citation or similar copying of the language and viewpoints of the other author and the representation of them as ones own personal essay. Thereby， plagiarism not only comprises the each word replication of other piece of work， but similar copying of it as well. Exploiting similar and other word is not an vindication to defend plagiarism. Writers ought to write a piece of passage strictly in their own words and then quote the sources. Authors can help themselves write a good paraphrase that is not too similar to the original ones by conceiving the paraphrase more as their performance or reflection on what they read， rather than a re-wording of what they read.

7. Using material without plagiarism

Everyone should be aware that all the materials that used should be acknowledged in the articles and make in the list of references.In academic writing， when use other peoples ideas as well as our own， it would be wrong to pass other peoples ideas off as our own. We are meant to use materials to support our arguments， so it is our responsibility to assist the reader distinguish other writers viewpoints from our own. This is the reason we must acknowledge all the materials we exploit. Plagiarism is defined as the use of the work of others without acknowledge. This cover page not only merely exploiting words， but also point of views， ideas， database， format， pictures， computer technique and music. Once you describe the other writers views in your own words， the material of the views must still be acknowledged. Good academic compositions draws on materials， but these must be acknowledged.It is not fair to the writers not to acknowledge the others words. You have to exploit views to support the concept you have developed， which gives authority to your work and helps you to develop a convincing argument. Your tutors require evidence that you have made enough reading and understood the material you read.Graduates need to be able to develop and sustain complex ideas with a clear sense of purpose and awareness of readership. Clearly， writing competence is foregrounded more in some degree studies than in others. In addition， writers must develop complicated material with a definite ‘sense of purpose and awareness of readership. It must be acknowledged， however， that the ability to write well is more crucial in some disciplines than others. In your dissertation， acknowledge all of the other writers views， concepts， models or theories statistics， graphs， tables， photos and other drawings in order to avoid plagiarism， but you do not need to acknowledge facts that are quite common knowledge， such as the sentences like：‘Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. ‘Britain is a constitutional monarchy.endprint

8. Conclusion

Once paraphrasing an information， pay attention to the two basic views. First of all vocabulary should be changed wherever possible while the technical vocabulary should not change.on the other hand， passage structure which joins short sentences and separate long sentences， should change the order of clauses. As for the writing style， writers should hold a consistent style， once to change to your own one should not be as complicated as that of the original one. Consequently double review your paraphrase against the material article to make sure you will not accidentally exploited the similar collocations or words， and that the information is accurate.

References：

[1]Using sources in your writing without plagiarism http：//www.ncl.ac.uk/right-cite/.

[2]Academic writing purpose，process，context and product http：//libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm.

[3]http：//dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism.

[4]http：//plato.mercyhurst.edu/writingcenter/pdf/Avoiding_Plagiarism.pdf.endprint