Subject Guides: Law Guide: Referencing

What is Referencing?

Referencing is a practice of acknowledging other peoples works, ideas, sources used in a paper, assignment, report and conference papers in academic writing.

What is a Referencing Style?

A referencing style is the preferred format for creating references to sources of information. Format includes the order of elements of a reference as well as punctuation. Unfortunately there is no universal style and every discipline and journal has its own preferred style.

Turnitin

Turnitin is an internet based tool used to check and detect plagiarism in an essay or any kind of academic related document. Its a licensed based software which universities and schools obtain through subscription.

To use Turnitin you must first get a code from your supervisor/lecturer before you register as a student as you will not be able to complete registration without this code.

Why should I reference my assignment?

To acknowledge the sources of information you have used just as authors of books and journal articles list the sources they have used
It is academic courtesy to acknowledge the work of others – none of us know everything and we rely on the work of others
Your lecturers/readers need to see from where you obtained your information
Your lecturers/readers need to see how widely you have read; whether you have used key sources and how up to date your information is
Your lecturers/readers need to be able to verify the information you have used
Plagiarism – using someone else’s ideas as if they were your own, is unacceptable and a punishable offence.

How to Insert Footnotes and Bibliography

Referencing style preferred by the UWC Law Faculty

The UWC Law Faculty follows the referencing style of the South African Law Journal (SALJ). Footnoting and a bibliography (list of works cited) are required for assignments.
SALJ house style

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is not just about copying a classmate's assignment but also taking someone else's ideas and writings from books, journals and websites and pretending they are your own. In the academic environment it is essential to indicate where you got your information and ideas from - your lecturers want to see what you have read.

Plagiarism

UWC Student Disciplinary Rules
Rule 3.5.1.1.2 of the Student Disciplinary Rules defines plagiarism as:
‘the appropriation of any other person’s work and the unacknowledged
incorporation of that work in one’s own work offered for credit. This would include,
but is not limited to:
• appropriation of work from a textbook, journal, report or similar document written
by someone else without acknowledging the author(s) or source,
• appropriation of work from someone else’s assignment, thesis, test, or research
paper without acknowledging this other person.’

Types of plagiarism

The types of plagiarism have been well documented. Turnitin.com recently undertook a plagiarism survey and have presented their findings on types of plagiarism in the document: White paper: the plagiarism spectrum.