Legal Citation & Referencing Principles & Rules PDF

REFERENCING AND AVOIDING PLAGIARISM Legal research & writing I LEGAL CITATION  INTRODUCTION Accurate and consistent referencing is essential in all academic work. Whenever you refer to either the work or ideas of someone, or are influenced by another's work, you must acknowledge this....

REFERENCING AND AVOIDING PLAGIARISM Legal research & writing I LEGAL CITATION  INTRODUCTION Accurate and consistent referencing is essential in all academic work. Whenever you refer to either the work or ideas of someone, or are influenced by another's work, you must acknowledge this. Similarly if you make a direct quotation from someone's work this should be referred to accurately. At the conclusion of your legal research, you often are required to present the results in writing, as discussed in the chapters of this text explaining the legal writing process. In doing so, you must include citations to the legal authorities you have identified. Legal citation is akin to citation in other forms of writing in that it serves to alert the reader that the content is from another source and not the author’s own thoughts.  WHY CITATION? Passages taken from the work of others must be suitably acknowledged with the use of speech marks and a clear reference to the source. Accurate quoting and referencing give credit both to you and to those whose work you have used. References and quotes reflect your research and indicate the depth of reading you have undertaken. They also allow others to follow up on the work that you have done. WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? There is certainly no single universally agreed definition. Every institution develops its own definitions and even within these there can be a range of interpretations of what it is – and is not. The Oxford English Dictionary defines plagiarism as ‘the action or practice of taking someone else’s work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one’s own; literary theft’. In general, plagiarism is one of a number of practices deemed by universities to constitute cheating, or in university-speak: ‘a lack of academic integrity’. The unfair advantage involved in plagiarism is that a student has submitted work that contains the words of others, often taken from articles or online sources, that are not acknowledged to be someone else’s work. Plagiarism does not require a deliberate attempt to cheat. Plagiarism include: Collusion - where without official approval between two or more students, with the result that identical, or near identical work, is presented by all those involved Falsification – where content of assignments, e.g. statistics, has been invented or falsely presented by a student as their own work Replication – where a student submits the same, or very similar piece of work, on more than one occasion to gain academic credit. Taking unauthorized notes into an examination Obtaining an unauthorized copy of an examination paper Communication with other students in an examination in order to help, or be helped, with answers Impersonation of another person in an examination  Why do students plagiarize? it is easier and more tempting now than it ever has been. It is found that the most common reasons cited by students for cheating were related to: Because of poor time management To get a better grade Because of laziness or bad time management Because of ease of opportunity (it is easy access to material via the Internet) Because they did not understand the rules Because ‘it happens unconsciously’. Consequences Of Plagiarism If you do not accurately reference your work you may commit plagiarism. This is a disciplinary offence under the University's Assessment Regulations, is regarded as cheating (whether intentional or not), and normally will result in the coursework being marked as zero. More serious consequences are also likely to follow. You should be aware that the Law Society and Bar Council requires all applicants for membership to declare whether they have ever 'committed an act of plagiarism or cheating in any form of assessment' and will require two referees to provide written statements to the Society concerning the issue. You should also be aware that employers are extremely reluctant to hire people who have been found guilty of acts of dishonesty.  How to avoid plagiarism The most effective means of avoiding inadvertent plagiarism is to ensure that every piece of work that you produce is thoroughly and correctly referenced. This raises two issues: when to reference and how to reference. When to reference Certain situations are straightforward. Most students would appreciate that a reference to the source of the following should be provided: Statements of law should be attributed to the relevant case or statutory provision. Direct quotations should be attributed to their source in a book, article, case, or other material.  Factual material such as statistics or the findings of a research study should be attributed to their source, whether this is an official report or an academic or commercial study. Definitions of legal concepts or any other matter should be attributed to the appropriate source in a dictionary, case law, statute, article, or other material.  How to avoid plagiarism Applying, analyzing, criticizing or quoting other people’s work is perfectly reasonable and acceptable. Attempt to summarize or restate another person’s work, theories or ideas and give acknowledgement to that person. This is usually done by citing your sources and presenting a list of references By using quotation marks (or indenting lengthy quotations in your text) to distinguish between the actual words of the writer and your own words. Once again, you should cite all sources and present full details of these in your list of references. There are three main ways in which you might incorporate the work of another author in your legal writing: Summarizing—where the author’s original words are rewritten in a shortened form but which captures the key points which the author made. Paraphrasing—where the author’s original words are rewritten, but the original meaning is retained. Direct quotation—where the author’s original words are reproduced exactly.  When Not To Reference Material that is ‘common knowledge’ generally does not need to be referenced. While this might seem obvious and straightforward, it is unfortunately complicated by the fact that there is no consensus as to what falls within common knowledge. Experts on plagiarism and academic malpractice disagree on what counts as common knowledge. Some only consider factual material such as current and historical events potentially to be common knowledge (for instance, ‘Adolf Hitler was the leader of the German Nazi Party during the Second World War while Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of Great Britain throughout most of the conflict’). Others consider common knowledge to be that which is commonly known within the broad subject area (for instance, ‘the UK has an unwritten constitution’). Two tests which are often used in helping to decide whether a piece of information is common knowledge are: Quantity—can the information be found in numerous places? Ubiquity—is the information known by many people?  How To Reference Each reference must be accompanied by a link to details of the source Substantial quotations Bibliography  Bibliography A bibliography gives full references to the books, articles, Parliamentary proceedings, government publications and other sources you have consulted or used. This should appear at the end of your assignment, starting on a new sheet. Items in the Bibliography should be ordered alphabetically by author and, when there is more than one entry by an author, then by date. Where there are two or more works by an author in the same year distinguish them by date and letter (e.g. Howarth, 1995a; Howarth, 1995b) If using the footnote system, the principal difference between footnotes and bibliography entries is that your footnotes will where necessary specify the pages used for the particular reference.