In this section, we will learn how to cite sources correctly.
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Why is proper citation necessary?
A citation is a reference in your paper or report that gives the source of evidence that you have used. In most cases, the proof will be a text, drawing, piece of data, opinion, or theory. Citing is necessary to use information appropriately.
Citations are an essential element of academic writing. As part of the introduction to your paper or report, you are generally required to provide background information about your theme or present overviews of previous work on the same topic. Moreover, if you cite research that supports your point of view, your argument will be more convincing.
Lists of citations are similar to bibliographies, but bibliographies are used to indicate the sources of the materials consulted in the preparation of your paper. On the other hand, cited references indicate precisely which part of the information resource is incorporated into specific pieces of your writing.
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Basic principles
Citing has two main purposes:
To acknowledge your debt to the research and creativity of other people.
To allow your readers to track down the sources of your evidence so that they can evaluate and confirm your argument.
It is, therefore, essential to make a clear distinction between the work of other people and even your previous work, the new and unique content of your current assignment. Moreover, to help readers track down the works you cite, you should refer to readily available sources whenever possible. You should also consistently provide bibliographical details (the title of paper or book, the volume, the page, etc.) according to one of the accepted citation styles.
Lengthy quotations from other people's work constitute plagiarism or stealing. Therefore, to indicate that your work is your own, do not quote unless you have a good reason for doing so.
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Quoting and paraphrasing
We will now examine examples of different methods and styles of citing works. Your instructor may specify a particular way. However, if you are writing for publication, you should follow the style preferred by the journal's publisher.
Firstly, you can use two citation methods depending on whether or not you use the actual wording of the cited text.
Quoting the original text
(Text)
The significance of Anzai's study was "a basis for bridging gaps lying between the symbolic information-processing and the cybernetic approaches."1)
(Citation)
1. Anzai Y: Cognitive Control Of Real-Time Event-Driven Systems. Cognitive Science 1984; 8(3):221-254
A quotation should be an exact reproduction of the original text.
A short quotation should be surrounded by quotation marks, and a citation mark (in the example, a number is used) should be inserted after the second quotation mark. Longer quotations should be presented as a separate paragraph, with line breaks before and after the quotation. In some cases, a minor character size should be used. This is to distinguish the quotation from your text as clearly as possible.
Then, indicate the relevant page or pages in the bibliographical details of your list of cited references.
Quotations are important if you wish to give the actual words of an eyewitness or provide an accurate explanation of other people's arguments or if you wish to utilize a unique expression in its original form.
Paraphrasing
(Text)
Okano et.al1) discussed the timing of the transplantation of neural stem cells from previous studies in rat models.1）
(Citation)
1) Okano H, Ogawa Y, Nakamura M, Kaneko S, Iwanami A, Toyama Y. Transplantation of neural stem cells into the spinal cord after injury. Seminars in cell & developmental biology 2003; 14(3): 191-198
A citation mark should be inserted after the author's name or after describing the relevant content.
If you feel unable to explain the content adequately in your own words, you should use quotations.
Paraphrasing should be used when referring to data from other people's works, when grouping and summarizing previous results in your review of existing research or when using pieces with similar arguments as evidence to support your own opinion. However, you must be careful not to alter the original meaning of what you paraphrase since this would constitute an illegal act.
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Two citation methods: Reference Number and Author-Date
Using numbers in the main text
(Text)
The methods for fabricating graded-index plastic optical fibers (GI-POF) developed by Koike 1) brought a lot of attention in terms of applications of POF as the transmission medium.
Indicating the name of the author and date of publication in brackets in the main text
(Text)
Computer science has been enhanced with human-machine interaction to improve human-robot-computer interaction (Anzai, 1994).
(Citation)
Anzai, Y. (1994). Human-robot-computer interaction: a new paradigm of research in robotics. Advanced Robotics, 8(4), 357-369.
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Citation styles
There are various styles (rules regarding the order of description, bound symbols, fonts, etc.) of including bibliographical details (name of the author, title of paper or name of publication, volume, page, etc.) in cited references. Some journals require contributors to comply with their unique style, while there are some commonly-used international standardized formats.
Here are some examples:
APA (American Psychological Association)
MLA (Modern Language Association)
IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
The APA Style is derived from a manual published by the American Psychological Association that provides guidelines for writing the bibliography. Scholars widely use this style in psychology.
The MLA style is derived from a handbook published by the US Modern Language Association. Articles in humanities widely use the style.
The IEEE Style is derived from a manual published by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
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Bibliographic management tools
Bibliographic management tools, such as Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote (Visit ITC website), and RefWorks (SFC only), help organize your research sources and generate bibliographies in multiple citation formats. For more information, ask reference staff at any Media Center.
In this section, we will learn what copyright is and how to avoid plagiarism.
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What does copyright mean?
Copyright is the intellectual property right that protects creative works of artistic nature such as music, art, novels, and films.
Copyright is our right to prevent others from using our creative works without our permission.
Copyright will exist if a creative work fulfills the following conditions:
It must express "thoughts" or "emotions."
It must show evidence of "creativity."
It must be realized or made.
It must fall within the literary, scientific, artistic, or musical domain.
A work that fulfills the above conditions is known as a "copyrighted work."
Copyright can be roughly divided into the following two rights.
Personal rights of the creator
Copyright as a form of property right
When studying and doing at university, you are likely to use the copyrighted works of other people in cases such as in the following circumstances:
When attaching a chart found in a book to your report
When using a graph published in a periodical in a seminar presentation
When using graphic images from someone's website when creating your own
When using the works of others in these or other ways, it is essential to cite appropriately and not violate copyright rules.
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Plagiarism
As college students, you need to understand plagiarism and its relation to Copyright Law. Plagiarism is the presentation of another person's data or ideas as if they are your own, in other words, without appropriate citation. We have to respect other people's original ideas and opinions.
Plagiarism is a violation of Copyright Law!
There are no permissible levels of plagiarism, and no special consideration will be given to the fact that you are still in college. Plagiarism is a severe infringement of the law that may significantly damage your academic reputation.
Copying someone else's work
Allowing someone else to copy your work
Writing an assignment for someone else
Having someone else write your assignment
You must never commit these acts.
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How to avoid plagiarism
To avoid plagiarism, be aware of the following points.
Give yourself sufficient time for your assignments
You cannot prepare an assignment properly if you do not understand the topic. To express ideas in your own words, allow yourself plenty of time to digest what you have discovered during your research.
Maintain a working notebook
Make a notebook for your assignment and record your ideas, concept maps, and outlines. The notebook should also contain memos of referenced information such as books, articles in periodicals, or webpages. When writing down your memos, make sure the notes are accurate and use "quotation marks" to distinguish which parts are quotations.
Keep records of your research
When searching databases or reference books, be sure to record the search terms that you used. This will allow you to redo your search later by using the same search terms.
Make a bibliographical list for your assignment
To avoid losing track of your sources of referenced information, make a list of your sources. Make a list even more helpful by including where the sources were obtained (for instance, the request number at the relevant library). You should also record the bibliographical details of each piece of collected information. Take advantage of bibliographic management tools.
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Penalties at Keio University
Suppose you commit an act of plagiarism, either from a lack of academic morality or because of a failure to understand copyright rules. In that case, you may face punishment by the laws and regulations of your department and even the university itself.
It is, therefore, our wish that you adhere to the rules of copyright conscientiously. However, this should not be because plagiarism may result in punishment, but simply because you are a student of Keio University.
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Other illegal acts
Besides plagiarism, the following acts are also wrong and must be avoided at all costs.
Fabricating or falsifying data from experiments or research.
Contributing or submitting papers or reports written by others as though they were your own.
Contributing or submitting the same paper or report to multiple destinations without prior consent from those destinations.
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Summary
Historically, copyright laws are among the earliest laws to have been standardized across many countries. A good understanding of copyright will prevent you from infringing other people's copyright while effectively protecting your own.
However, advancements in transmission and reproduction technology have made it easy to alter copyrighted works. This may result in the infringement of your copyright or your unintentional violation of the copyright of other people. The number of copyright-related disputes is increasing every year, and there are no guarantees that you will not become involved in such a dispute one day.
It is therefore vital for you to understand copyright and use information and ideas correctly and appropriately.
