Referencing – Rules, Queries, Harvard etc.

@redoy300 – First as this is about word count you should have posted it to that topic!! If you had done that you would find I have already answered this.

Unless you have several embedded tables (the electronic wordcount does not pick them up) markers tend to go with the auto word count. If this exceeds 7500 markers are ordered to stop marking at that point. This means your Conclusion may not be marked and that results in an automatic fail (you MUST have a conclusion).

If the embedded tables are in addition to 7,500 words additional fails on Presenation of FIndings and /or Communication are likely. No marker has the time to count 7,500 words and is unlikely to hound you about 20 or 30 extra words, so chill!

STUDENTS ARE YET AGAIN REMINDED TO USE THE SEARCH FACILITY TO FIND THE MOST APPROPRIATE TOPIC FOR THEIR QUERY

@Ha

1. That’s fine but try to use your own words and avoid putting full URL and web links in the text (they are fine in the reference list). So using this website as an example you might put (opentuition.com, 2015) in the text and in the Ref list: opentuition.com (2015) – Open Tuition… followed by the link
2. Again this is fine – as long as you use your own words and put in the appropriate reference IMMEDIATELY after the point you are referencing.

@zilyenge

1. No. Normally for the RAP page numbers are not necessary but I sense some markers are getting fed up with students making dozens of identical references along the lines of, (XYZ, 2014). The annual report is normally more than 100 pages and as it is being used so extensively markers are beginning to demand where exactly in the report was this information then? With other articles this is not such a problem as they are not being relied on so much (or are so long)

2. Don’t worry.

3. Again no problem -I was just making the point that numbers could normally be located relatively quickly in the annual report but any comments could be tucked away anywhere in >100 pages

Just do not include the same document more than once in the list! It alone would not be a fail but if accompanied by other referencing errors e.g. placing them at the end of paragraphs, mismatches (referring to the author of a newspaper article in the text but giving it the newspaper name first in the list) or having Telegraph (2015) in text several times for different articles could contribute to the marker deciding your referencing is not competent enough to warrant a pass.

Hi Trephena,

I want to ask how do I reference a picture from a website?

Thank you for support.

@Ha – in the text this would normally be something along the lines of (bizdom.com, n.d) and in the reference list: bizdom.com (n.d.) – Top 12 Marketing Models of All Time available at: https://bizdom.com.au/2011/03/30/top-12-marketing-models-of-all-time/ [Accessed 10 May 2015]

@Zilyenge – I understand your concerns especially if this is your final attempt.

1. I think that should be OK – it is the referencing in Part 3 that is the most important

2. I don’t quite see why using page numbers means you have to do a direct quote – you could still express the ideas sometimes in your own words I would have thought…. It is really long passages and/or too many direct quotes the markers dislike. The reason it is considered to be “bad academic practice” is because by just copying and pasting it does not really show that students really understand what they are writing. There are no precise numbers of direct quotes that I can advise – it comes down to balance, showing you have thought about what you are writing and how appropriate any quotes are, I can only advise that you use them sparingly and try wherever possible to get the idea across in your own words (One word of advice though – do NOT use a dictionary or thesaurus to just change a few words here and there to try to get round this problem as [a] a thesaurus will often produce words that sound “pompous” and unnatural and [b] Turnitin generally still spots the main phrases and actually highlights the words that have been changed so the marker will be well aware of what has gone on). I recognise this may be potentially difficult for you but try to express as many of the ideas by rephrasing them in simple everyday English (but of course you still have to reference them as it is the idea, not the words you are referencing). Where you do directly cite the CEO etc than don’t forget to put in the quotation marks as well as the reference to show this. I would suggest that you try to keep the amount of citations down to no more than about 10-12% of your whole report then you should avoid any charge of “bad academic practice”

3. There is no problem showing page numbers for the financial statements it is just that as it is obvious where they came from (Balance sheet or Income statement usually) then a page number is not necessary – but the marker will not penalise either way.

With the paragraph you have cited – I don’t think you need to go into this level of detail regarding actual figures here (markers really HATE lots of numbers as they are relatively meaningless unless explained). You need a reference or two to support your statements and/or a bit more explanation (maybe later in your profitability section – see my next paragraph) e.g. do you have an article that you can reference on investor confidence? and also evidence of the economic growth? – a reference tied to economic statistics is really required here.

I am a bit unsure as a reader why 2013 profits were less than 2012(restated) – what caused this? (Could it be merely because you are taking the post tax profits? Normally it is better to do pre-tax profits as companies/banks have no real control over the tax rates and timing of tax payments too can distort the figures whereas taking pre-tax profits avoids this). You would need to explain any reasons for this fluctuation in your section dealing with profitability. Generally though rather than write all of these numbers in your text in your financial analysis section, have a graph that shows them (don’t throw numbers at the reader they are not blind they can see the position from the graph) all they want is for you to then explain the fluctuations – the reasons that under lie them (PESTLE/SWOT factors, Management decisions etc)

I have been assured that with third attempts then the process is that a senior marker (often the chief moderator) looks at all student RAPs that are 3rd submissions. This apparently is to avoid the chance of a less experienced person marking work down – it will be matched to the assessment criteria very carefully so that your result is fair.

Hi Trephena,

I got different info from the same website and this is how I did it in-text.

(Muvitv.com, n.da) and (Muvitv.com, n.db). The point is, is it ok adding ‘a’ and ‘b’ in order to differentiate them?

@Ha – numbering if you mean having them in your list as 1., 2., 3. etc is not necessary under Harvard – the designations in the text should match the list so are identifiable to the reader – that is sufficient.
Note: your list should be in alphabetical order – that is far more important!!!

I see the point they are trying to make – you could do this as a check for yourself but if your list does contain ‘extras’ you are best off then removing them and all the numbers. You would not be failed for the numbers if everything else is OK (but they could be a minor irritation). Having numbers in the list is just not used in academic documents and your RAP by definition is an academic document but don’t panic about it as systematic full referencing correctly inserted in the right place in the text is far more important.

(If you are not using Harvard then you would need to have put the number as a sub-script in the text as just numbering them in the list would not help anyone identify what they referring to. Note: using this type of numbering system e.g. numbering in the text which is then exactly matched to the numbers in the list is the only time when a non-alphabetical list is acceptable).

Trust that helps 🙂

@Priscilla – yes that should be fine as long as it is clear where the figures in the Appendix on which the ratios are based come from. Usually the financial statements show the extracts from the companies’ annual reports.

I would be surprised if you ONLY failed on this point, it was probably mentioned as just one example of where you had not referenced but where you should have. Normally markers are more concerned where statements and facts are presented but are not referenced.

Note: this query should have been posted on the Referencing Forum – it is NOT necessary to open a new topic for each and every query as where we already have an existing forum it is better to have similar queries grouped together.

Hi Trephena,

Thanks so much! Wishing you and the whole opentuition crew continued success!

Am done now!!

@Ha

1. Please re-read my replies above to dorcas 4 May (Last paragraph) and zilyenge 10 May and subsequent posts as I can’t keep repeating the same info!

2. You should specify at least the year – I didn’t put the full date on the one below because if the reader had used the link they would have seen the date. However with newspaper articles NOT available on line then the full date MUST be included as how on earth would anyone hope to find something with just a vague reference like Times (2013) even if the article name is given, without a full date??

NOTE: one of the (many) purposes of referencing is to enable the reader to find the book/article/journal or AT LEAST verify that it exists, so the student needs to bear this in mind as markers DO CHECK some of the references randomly when marking!

Here are some “I did earlier”.

BBC (2012). Leveson Inquiry: Coulson held News Corp shares while PM’s aide, BBC News website retrieved 12 May 2012 from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18002228

if it was a live broadcast that you saw or listened to then you put the name of the actual person if you are citing them:

Moore P (2012). Interview 19 July 2012, Today Programme, BBC Radio 4

or if referring to something in the programme not connected with the interviewee I would have put: BBC (2012). Item on Whistleblowing, Today Programme, 19 July 2012, BBC Radio 4

@Ha – Source: XYZ FS 2012, 2013, 2014) will suffice.

You normally only need to add your name (or cite “author”) to a table or diagram etc if you have taken an existing graph or orthographic and modified it to suit your purpose, in which case you would then normally put (Author’s [or reseacher’s] table after XYZ,2012).

I am not sure what you are asking in your second part but different documents from the website would need to be appended as 2013b, 2013c etc.(so separate references in the list) and the link to each document provided there. The reader cannot be expected to search the whole of the company’s website to find what it is you are referencing – your job is to make the marker’s task as easy as possible!