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WRITING & RESEARCH
If You Use It, Cite It Melissa Jackowski, EdD,
R.T.(R)(M), is an assistant professor in the Division of Radiologic Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a member of the Radiologic Technology Editorial Review Board. Laura Aaron, PhD, R.T.(R)(M)(QM), is director of the radiologic science program at Northwestern State University in Shreveport, Louisiana, and chairman of the Editorial Review Board for Radiologic Technology. “Writing & Research” discusses issues of concern to writers and researchers and is written by members of the Editorial Review Board. Comments and suggestions should be sent to
[email protected].
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Writing an original article or a student paper is all about research combined with original ideas. The best writers know how to use and cite the work of others to create a thoughtful, unique perspective on a topic. To do so requires careful avoidance of plagiarism and attention to citation of references.
Plagiarism Plagiarism is taken very seriously in academia and publishing. Plagiarism can be defined as “the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.”1 There can be serious consequences to plagiarism, ranging from disciplinary action at the university level to loss of a job. Because of the significant penalties, it is critical that writers understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. There are several common types of plagiarism, including direct plagiarism, mosaic, paraphrase and insufficient acknowledgement.1 Direct plagiarism is probably the type that people most easily identify as plagiarism. This involves directly copying parts of another individual’s work without giving proper credit. Word processing software and the ability to cut and paste from the Internet, documents or other materials have made this type of plagiarism easier to commit. Mosaic plagiarism involves taking ideas from a source and combining them with your own ideas. Again, the original author is not given credit. Paraphrasing also can be a form of plagiarism. In this instance, the ideas of the author are restated using different words, but the author is not given credit. The final type of plagiarism is insufficient acknowledgement. In this case, the author is given credit, however, the reference is not clear as to what was included in the original. Another form of insufficient acknowledgement is citing only a portion of the information. Because plagiarism is a serious offense, it is vital that an author make every effort to avoid committing this act. Below are
some suggestions to avoid plagiarism: ■ Take notes and indicate the original source of the information. ■ Check any paraphrasing to be sure that it is not exactly the same as the original text. ■ Use quotation marks in notes to be sure that proper credit is given to the author. ■ Keep all drafts of your work to be sure that you do not accidentally omit a reference or citation.2
Citing References It is important to note that “ignorance” is not a defense for plagiarism. You should become familiar with the rules of the citation style in which you are working. For Radiologic Technology, we require that you use the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style.1 In this style, you must cite each source by assigning a superscripted number to the source as it appears in text. Place this work in the reference section with the associated number. If Jones and Smith’s article on radiation protection is the first article that you cite, put a superscript “1” at the end of the sentence that explains their work; if you cite that work again, keep the “1” as the article’s reference number. The next work that you cite should be assigned a superscript “2,” and so on. If you must credit more than 1 work for a thought, separate the numbers by commas but with no space. If you are citing 3 or more consecutive numbers, you may shorten the citation to a range of numbers. Here is an example of citing multiple works: …Using this protocol, radiologic technologists have helped reduce patient dose by 11%.1,4,7,9-12
Direct quotes also may include page numbers. If you are quoting a work exactly using quotation marks, it’s essential to accurately cite the source. If you choose to add page numbers, include them in parentheses after the reference number.
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For example: Jones and Smith stated, “Our study found that 98% of technologists are following the ALARA principle.”1(p22)
If the quote spans multiple pages, use “pp” instead of “p” before the page numbers. The reference section only should include those works cited in the paper. Some people list all 50 references they find for their topic even if they’ve only cited 25 in the text. Writers often have several drafts of a work before it is finalized. After each revision, you must again check to be sure the citations in the paper match the reference section. For example, if a section is moved from the middle to the beginning, this might necessitate renumbering all of the references in the list and throughout the text. In the reference section, each “type” of work follows a different format. The best way to learn the format is to look at other articles published in Radiologic Technology, review the AMA Manual of Style (10th edition) and seek AMA style guide summaries online, such as the “References and Reference Style Guide” found in the “Guide for Authors” on the ASRT Web site Publications page. Below is the format for some commonly cited works: Book The following elements should be included (as applicable): Author last name, first and middle initial. Title of chapter. Title of book. Volume number. Edition (do not use if it is the first edition). Place of publication: Publisher; Year of copyright:Page numbers. Example: Jones LA, Smith MJ. Radiation Protection Strategies. Chapel Hill, NC: Rad Tech Publishing; 2008:209-211. Journal Article The following elements should be included (as applicable): Author last name, first and middle initial. Title of article. Journal abbreviation (authors must use the National Library of Medicine [PubMed] abbreviation found at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/ entrez?db=journals). Year; Volume Number (Part or supplement number and issue number):Page numbers. Example: Smart UR. Helping move the radiography profession forward. Radiol Technol. 2007;10(3):342-350. Internet Sources The following elements should be included (as applicable): Author last name, first and middle initial. Name of
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article or Web page. If an abstract, note this in [brackets] or use the name of the journal, with a [serial online] notation with year; volume:pages. URL of the page used. “Updated” [date] for last update on a Web site. “Accessed” [date] for the date you referenced the material. Example (as cited in this article): Atwater-Singer M. University of Evansville Libraries. AMA Style Guide. http://libraries.evansville.edu/style/ ama.html. Updated August 11, 2008. Accessed July 3, 2009.3
Conclusion Consult the AMA Manual of Style for complete information on citations and more on plagiarism. Be a credible, ethical author and give credit to others when you use their thoughts, ideas and results. “Best practice” ideals often state that citations should be documented if you are presenting something that is not your original idea and that is not already common knowledge. If you still are wondering how to avoid plagiarism, the University of North Carolina Writing Center in Chapel Hill has published the following helpful information: “How can I tell whether I’ve plagiarized? You need to cite your source, even if: ■ You put all direct quotes in quotation marks. ■ You changed the words used by the author into synonyms. ■ You completely paraphrased the ideas to which you referred. ■ Your sentence is mostly made up of your own thoughts, but contains a reference to the author’s ideas. ■ You mention the author’s name in the sentence.
The moral of this handout: When in doubt, give a citation.”4 ◆
References 1. American Medical Association. AMA Manual of Style. 10th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2007. 2. Purdue Owl. The Owl at Purdue Web site. Avoiding plagiarism: safe practices. 2009. http://owl.english.purdue .edu/owl/resource/589/03/. Updated September 30, 2008. Accessed July 1, 2009. 3. Atwater-Singer M. University of Evansville Libraries. AMA Style Guide. http://libraries.evansville.edu/style/ama.html. Updated August 11, 2008. Accessed July 3, 2009. 4. The Writing Center. Plagiarism. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html. Accessed July 22, 2009.
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