A tough nut to crack!

Hi guys!

I wanna tell you a creepy story about 'references'...

I was a little girl - 2yrs ago :) - when I first heard about 'references, bibliography and quotations'. I was preparing my BA thesis and my supervisor (the professor who helped me out) told me how to quote others' works, make in-text citations and write a good bibliography.
I was unaware of how this experience would have dramatically changed my life. From that moment onward, I started to get extremely anxious and sometimes fussy when putting down ANY piece of writing...even a shopping list!
Recently I was having a quite peaceful period but - guess what? - Sarah has given us (my classmates and I) a tough work to do: adjust a HUGE amount of references and in-text citations. My nightmare...again! :(

Well, joking aside, I think we all have learned that the referencing issue is tough but crucial. Making proper citations and writing down a respectful bibliography protect us from plagiarism and the infringement of IPR. What's more, we now have a fresh new tool for taking advantage of collaboration and shared feedback, for referencing too: GoogleDocs (see here).

Talk to you soon
Giorgia
(photo source)

P.S. In the light of what I've learned so far during Sarah's classes (see here), I think that in my BA thesis I used the APA style...more or less. I was unaware...and perhaps it was better to be unaware!!! :)

APA or MLA? ...mumble mumble...

Do you remember when we talked about plagiarism, especially in writing?

Well, we said that there are different ways to avoid plagiarism and make proper references to any of the works we cite or paraphrase in our writings (i.e. essays, theses, blog posts). In particular, we looked at two authoritative referencing styles: MLA Style Citations (Modern Language Association) and APA Formatting and Style Guide (American Psychological Association).
Let's see what are their main features, similarities and differences, if any.

MLA style:

• large list of examples concerning in-text references and their corresponding works-cited entries; it takes into account a great number of different types of sources (books, chapters in book, works in an anthology or collection, journal or magazine articles, online sources, media, interviews, dissertations/theses, etc.);
• very strict rules of in-text, parenthetical references and bibliography; it also gives advices on punctuation, capitalization, typefaces (i.e. opt for underlining instead of italics), URLs, location, publication, author/s and all the other information we have to provide (i.e. in-text references need author's last name, year of publication, chapter:page/s).

APA style:

• plenty of information concerning not only the referencing style (i.e. in-text citations and bibliography), but also the formatting of a scholar paper (i.e. sections and sub-sections, headings, typing and page size);
• 9 sections concerning in-text references and bibliography; each section considers one type of source (e.g. book, online resource, magazine) and gives general rule on the needed referencing style (punctuation, use of italics, etc.)

MLA vs. APA (imo):

• MLA has a more detailed and greater number of examples than APA;
• MLA takes into account a huge range of sources' types while APA is less various;
• APA accepts footnotes and endnotes while MLA doesn't, especially in academic paper;
• APA in-text references are more flexible than MLA's; APA uses both (author, year) and (author, year, page/s) while MLA always requires (author, year, chapter:page/s);
• APA accepts both italics and underlining; MLA does not accept italics;
• MLA lacks a guideline on the formatting of an academic paper.

These are the main things I've noticed so far, but the issue is very interesting so I'm going to learn more about it...and I want to hear your opinion too!

BTW, I think that - in the end - both styles are accurate; therefore, to choose MLA instead of APA is just a matter of personal taste. Whether you opt for MLA or APA, the important thing is that once you've chosen one you have to follow it 'till the end of your work.

Sorry for being so long-winded...

Talk to you soon :)
Giorgia

Let's save our bacon!

Hello all,

according to what we've learned so far, let's try to make a list of what we are supposed to do to respect sources, IRP and avoid plagiarism.

Dos & Donts:

• images - use Flickr with the CreativeCommons that provide all the info on copyrights; remember to cite the source and/or put the link which you take the image from. If the image is not taken from Flickr, make sure you are allowed to use it (i.e. see at the bottom of any web/blog page, there should be information about copyright);
• quotations, data, stats, research results (written productions) - remember to cite all the needed information about what you are writing whether you are exactly repeating or just paraphrasing someone else's words. There are different ways to cite (i.e. in-text citations, bibliography) and most of the times they have to be used together. Try to take a look to the two most common referencing styles > MLA and APA. Anyway, to make proper references within a blog is far easier than doing it in a formal piece of writing. In a blog you have just to put a link which works like an in-text citation and/or bibliography at your fingertip.

Well, these are just little tips I've learned so far...so, since the topic is very important and wide, I really need your help. Everyone is welcome to write a comment giving any kind of suggestions on referencing issue.

Bye
Giorgia
(photo source)