Academic Writing for International Students of Science - Jane Bottomley 2015
7.1 Using your own words
7 Referring to sources: paraphrase, refer-encing, criticality and the issue of plagiarism
CHAPTER
7
When you complete a writing assignment, you will need to find out new things and to position yourself within your field of study. This involves making use of, and making reference to, the scholarly work of others, often authorities in your subject.
In this chapter, you will firstly reflect on your own views on using the work of others in your own writing.
You will then focus on the issue of plagiarism, considering what it really means to ’use your own words’, and exploring the notion of good academic practice in relation to the use of sources.
The chapter will then present some strategies for paraphrase and summary which will help you to use academic sources in a positive way.
Finally, you will think about how to use your reading to build your own collection of useful structures and phrases to use in your writing as a whole.
Explorative Task
Consider these comments made by students. Are the students right or wrong? The issues that arise will be discussed in the following sections.
✵ “If I have lots of references to other people’s work, it won’t be my work, it won’t be original.”
✵ “I can use other people’s words as long as I give a reference.”
✵ “If I use my own words to explain someone else’s work, I don’t need to give a reference.
✵ “I can paraphrase by replacing some words with synonyms.”
✵ “I must change every word in a source I am using.”
7.1 Using your own words
When referring to the work of others you might:
✵ paraphrase, i.e. explain something with roughly the same amount of detail
✵ summarise, i.e. convey the main ideas of a passage, chapter, article or book in fewer words
✵ quote, i.e. use somebody else’s exact words (relatively infrequent in scientific texts, though sometimes useful, especially for precise definitions): 9.2 for information on incorporating quotation into your writing
It is important to know which technique is appropriate. It is also important to make sure that the work you produce in this way reflects your own understanding and analysis of the subject and of the sources you have consulted.
7.1.1 The issue of plagiarism
Plagiarism is, rightly, an important issue in the academic world and beyond. It is basically ’academic theft’ (of words or ideas), an unethical practice which can have very serious consequences.
Plagiarism can be intentional, i.e. when a student knowingly copies something and just hopes they will not get caught! But more often than not it arises because of a misunderstanding about what plagiarism is, and why it is such a bad thing in terms of academic practice.
The emphasis in this chapter is not on ’avoiding plagiarism’, as this would place emphasis on the most obviously negative aspect of plagiarism, i.e. getting caught copying! Here, the aim is to make you think about the positive aspects of producing work which is not plagiarised.
7.1.2 Good reasons to use your own words
Explorative Task (i)
Think of three reasons why it is a good thing to use your own words when you include information or ideas from other sources:
1) _____________
2) _____________
3) _____________
Now compare your ideas with the advice in the Study Box below.
Study Box: Good reasons to use your own words
1) Most obviously, using your own words is necessary in order to avoid plagiarism. (Most universities use Turnitin software to check for plagiarism.)
2) Using your own words is important, not simply because it enables you to avoid copying, but because it allows you to show that you understand what you have read and can explain it in a clear, concise way. The person reading and assessing your work cannot know if you understand a complex scientific concept if you merely reproduce someone else’s explanation of it! What’s more, as you struggle with the process of explaining difficult scientific concepts in your own words, you will get a good idea of just how well you understand them.
3) Using your own words gives you more scope to refer to sources critically, tying them in to your own ideas and argument, rather than just reproducing the thoughts of others. 7.2
Explorative Task (ii)
Look at the original text and the paraphrases, and then complete the table below.
Original text
Much of chemistry is concerned with chemical reactions. The factors that control whether a reaction will or will not take place fall into two categories: thermodynamic and kinetic. Thermodynamic concepts relate to the energetics of a system, while kinetics deal with the speed at which a reaction occurs. Observations of reaction kinetics are related to the mechanism of the reaction, and this describes the way in which we believe that the atoms and molecules behave during a reaction.
C. E. Housecroft and E. C. Constable, Chemistry: An Introduction to Organic, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, (4th Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education, 2010, 339.
Paraphrase A
A great deal of chemistry is concerned with chemical reactions. The factors that control if a reaction will or will not take place fall into two classes: thermodynamic and kinetic. Thermodynamic ideas are related to the energetics of a system, whereas kinetics deal with the speed at which a reaction occurs. Observations of reaction kinetics relate to the reaction’s mechanism, the way in which we think that the atoms and molecules behave during a reaction.
Paraphrase B
Chemical reactions, and the factors affecting them, are central to chemistry. Whether or not a reaction will occur is determined by thermodynamics, which relates to the energetics (the nature of energy in transformation) of a system, and kinetics, which relates to the speed of a reaction.
Paraphrase C
Chemical reactions, and the factors affecting them, are central to chemistry. Whether or not a reaction will occur is determined by thermodynamics, which relates to the energetics (the nature of energy in transformation) of a system, and kinetics, which relates to the speed of a reaction.1
References
1. C. E. Housecroft and E. C. Constable, Chemistry: An Introduction to Organic, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, (4th Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education, 2010, 339.
Which text
Text A
Text B
Text C
uses different sentence structure and phrasing, just retaining technical terms?
selects particular information?
adds some information?
is clearly referenced?
is an acceptable paraphrase?
Note that Paraphrase A has simply adopted a mechanical word-changing approach. B and C both explain the information they have selected in their own words (and add their own explanation where necessary), but B is still plagiarism, as there is no acknowledgement that the facts, if not the actual words have been taken from a textbook.
7.1.3 Good reasons not to use your own words
Explorative Task (i)
Think of two instances when it is actually better not to use your own words:
1) ___________________
2) ___________________
Now compare your ideas with the advice in the Study Box below.
Study Box: Good reasons not to use your own words
1) Positioning yourself within your own scientific discipline involves using a great deal of technical language common to everyone working within that discipline (e.g. chemical reaction). In fact, trying to change this language will lead to unnatural, unclear expression.
2) Occasionally, it will be useful to employ someone else’s exact words, to give a precise definition of a difficult concept, for example. However, if you do this, you must clearly indicate that it is a quote by using speech marks ( 9.2 for information on incorporating quotation into your writing).
Also …
3) It is clear that demonstrating understanding of the text you are paraphrasing necessarily involves using structures and phrasing not contained in that actual text. However, any text you are reading is likely to contain a range of fairly fixed structures and expressions which are used across academic writing. If you notice this language, make a note of it, and use it in other contexts. Using this language can help you to sound natural. What’s more, many of these structures and phrases are useful discourse markers, signalling, for example, organisation of ideas or a critical approach. 7.5
Explorative Task (ii)
Underline the words and expressions which you wouldn’t change in the following text.
Renewable energy has been an area of interest to many since the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. The field, however, has since undergone numerous growth-and-bust cycles. It is currently on the upswing, as evidenced by increased funding in the area, and a renewed sense of urgency to move away from fossil fuels. Solar is one facet of renewable energy, with wind and geothermal being others. The underlying motivation is to take advantage of the Sun’s abundant energy by converting it into usable forms, much like photosynthesis in plants. What is needed, though, is an active material or system like chlorophyll that can absorb solar radiation and provide efficient charge separation and/or storage.
(Kuno, 2012: 420)