Crediting Sources in Research Articles

Crediting Sources in Research Articles

When writing a Research Article (RA), it is of utmost importance to credit the sources cited or consulted.  Constructing a Reference List (RL) has a twofold objective: Avoiding plagiarism because as Swales and Feak (1994) state “it is a sign of disrespect—rather than respect—to copy without acknowledgment from the works of published authorities” (p.125)  and “enabling readers to retrieve and use the sources” (APA, 2011, p.180). Depending on the field the writers belongs to, they will select the most appropriate academic Documentation System available. Numerous manuals and online resources have been created to aid writers in the construction of correct RLs; however, few attempts have been made to critically analyze a RL. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the accuracy and completeness of the RL provided by the tutor.

     The works consulted in the RL indicates that the RA is related to the Environmental Sciences. The Documentation System generally followed by writers on this knowledge area is the Council of Science Editors (CSE); however, the one used as a guideline for this RL is the Modern Language Association (MLA) which bears some considerable differences with the American Psychological Association style (APA). For example, the heading to list sources at the end of a document is Works cited centered in upper and lower cases, whereas the one used in APA style is References.     

     Even though all the components —author, title, publication date — seem to be present and organized in alphabetical order, the way of acknowledging sources throughout the list seems to be inconsistent. The author of the first entry is missing or misplaced, it is not clear whether the Environmental Defense Fund is a corporate author or it is the name of the publisher.  Different types of quotation marks have been used: "Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action" and “Clinton on Climate Change” which makes it difficult for the reader to know what type of document they might be. Pages or paragraph numbers within the documents cited have not been included, neither have retrieval links. Sources are repeated twice in each entry with different formats, as in “Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund.”. The list has not been indented and does not seem to have been double-spaced.

     Regarding authors, full names have been included instead of initials for first names: Clinton, Bill and Dean, Cornelia. The use of italics is not clear and might lead to lack of clarity. For example, the names of the newspapers are repeated twice and italicized once. According to APA (2011), names of newspapers should be italicized and detailed publication date together with page numbers need to be provided.

     RLs should be as accurate and complete as possible in order to facilitate the reader to find the sources cited. In the case of the list provided, if readers are used to working with APA style, they would find many inconsistencies which will not only obscure the understanding of the type of works cited but also complicate their retrieval. If writers fail to carefully follow requirements for documenting papers in the corresponding style, their papers might not be accepted or published by well-known journals. Complying with academic standards will pave the way for being part of a broader Discourse Community.

References

     American Psychological Association. (2011). Publication Manual (6th ed.). British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: Washington, DC. 

     Swales, J. M. & Feak C. B.(1994). Academic Writing for Graduate Students. Essential Tasks and Skills. (3rd ed.). The USA: University of Michigan Press.