Referencing
The extract on the left was written by Manktelow and published in The Sydney Morning Herald in 2006.
One student read Manktelow's article and wanted to use some of his information in his UTS assignment. The extract on the right is what he wrote.
From the newspaper article
The overall purpose of spam is also changing. The ads for pills and porn are still out there, but there's now phishing, a much darker activity whereby messages aim to trick users into divulging identity or financial details, usually by luring them to fake banking sites.
More than 52 per cent of all malicious emails monitored by online security provider MessageLabs during September were phishing-related.
From the student's assignment
In one month in 2006, over 52 per cent of malicious emails were the kind of emails that trick users into giving their identity or financial details, mostly by directing them to fake banking sites.
The student's writing is unacceptable. He has summarised what Manktelow wrote, but he has not acknowledged the source of the ideas.
His lecturer told him he should provide reference details and so he wrote:
In one month in 2006 over 52 per cent of malicious emails were the kind of emails that trick users into giving their identity or financial details, mostly by directing them to fake banking sites.
Reference list
Manktelow, N. 2006, 'Reclaim your mail', Sydney Morning Herald: Icon, 14-15 October, p.6.
The student's writing is still unacceptable. Full reference details should be provided at the end of the assignment, but a reference should also be provided in the body of the assignment.
He tried again.
In one month in 2006 over 52 per cent of malicious emails were the kind of emails that trick users into giving their identity or financial details, mostly by directing them to fake banking sites (Manktelow).
The student's writing is still unacceptable. According to the Harvard style of referencing it is necessary to provide the year of the publication as well as the author's name. It is also necessary to provide the number of the page where you found the idea, even if you are not quoting the author's words.
He tried one more time.
In one month in 2006 over 52 per cent of malicious emails were the kind of emails that trick users into giving their identity or financial details, mostly by directing them to fake banking sites (Manktelow 2006, p.6).
Now the student's writing is acceptable. He has provided all the information that is necessary in the body of his assignment. He will write the full details for the reference in a list at the end of the assignment along with all the other references he has used.
When you use the Harvard system you must acknowledge your source in two places
- in the body of the assignment (in-text reference)
- in a list of references at the end of the assignment.
When you are referring to someone else's ideas in your writing, you should
- make it clear which ideas are the author's and which are your own
- give the author's surname
- give the year of publication
- give the page number (unless you are referring to ideas presented in the publication as a whole).