Scientific journal writing and paraphrasing – vocabulary

Bibliography refers to the list of books and journals referred to by the researcher in writing his or her thesis or dissertation. It contains the list of the books in an alphabetical order either showing the titles of the books or the names of the authors of the books. It is written at the end of the thesis. Example Martin G. B. (2014). The Stormy Night. New York: Cyclone Publishers

The main purpose of compiling the bibliography is to let the reader know the books and journals you have referred to as a researcher in writing your thesis or dissertation.

A citation is how you quote the source of the ideas within the body of the research paper. A citation is usually put at the end of the sentence within brackets. Generally, this citation includes information such as the author's surname, date of publication or the page number in which the part you have taken the idea appears in the original book.

For example: APA (American Psychological Association) is used by Education, Psychology, and Sciences. MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used by the Humanities. Chicago/Turabian style is generally used by Business, History, and the Fine Arts. At school, we normally use the APA style.

This citation method also changes according to the format you are following. See the following examples. APA - 'Her past would not let her be at peace (Martin, 2014).' MLA - 'Her past would not let her be at peace (Martin 251).'

The purpose of citation is intellectual honesty. You want to give due credit to a particular author for the quotation you have picked from his work in support of your work. Citation occurs at various places wherever there are relevant quotations.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

1. Write a paper/paragraph, do not copy paste 2. Include information from sources in your own words, so your teachers will still know you're using sources, but you won't have to quote everything. 3.Always cite a paraphrase. When you paraphrase, you're rewriting someone else's words into your own words. You're essentially using someone else's ideas in your paper. If you claim the information as your own (which is what you do if you don't cite a paraphrase) you're plagiarizing! Plagiarizing is a serious offence.

1. Read the source carefully and understand the content. 2. Set the source aside. This is important. 3. Write your paraphrase without looking at the original source. This will help you write in your own words and help you resist the temptation to use the wording and sentence structure of the original source. 4. Include key points and sub-points from the original source. 6. Write a paraphrase in your own words and use your own sentence structure. 7. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phrase you have borrowed exactly from the source. 8. Always cite a paraphrase.

The original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47. A legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47). A plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.