Unit 7 Concepts:

More Help With Documenting Electronic Sources

Academic Honesty

Unit 7 Assignment 

Whenever you use someone else's words or ideas in your writing, you must give credit to your source. To make documentation easier, keep a list or note cards that include all of the information from your source that you will need for a Works Cited list (bibliography). Researching with the computer makes record keeping all the more essential--it's really easy to lose track of text you've never actually held in your hand.

Remember that documentation is basically about two simple things: (1) giving credit to someone else for words or ideas and (2) helping the reader find a source used in the paper. There are many different documentation systems, each with its own complex set of rules. In English 110, you will be asked to use MLA (Modern Language Association) style.

All documentation systems require that information be recorded in a particular order and format. MLA acknowledges a source in the text of the paper with a parenthetical citation that includes the author's last name and the page number. If the reader wants to know more about that source, he or she simply turns to the bibliography--called Works Cited--finds that author's last name in alphabetical order, and reads the complete information.

When the author's name is not available--which is sometimes the case, especially with Web documents--the writer has to substitute whatever information would come next in a bibliographical entry. Usually, then, the first word of the title goes into the parenthetical citation, and the title, rather than the author, is alphabetized on the Works Cited page.

The MLA has published a summary of its guidelines for citing electronic sources, noting that "entries in a works-cited list for such sources contain as many items from the list below as are relevant and available."
The summary, comprised of fifteen items, is as follows:

1. Name of the author, editor, compiler, or translator of the source (if available and relevant), reversed for alphabetizing and followed by an abbreviation, such as ed., if appropriate

2. Title of a poem, short story, article, or similar short work within a scholarly project, database, or periodical (in quotation marks); or title of a posting to a discussion list or forum (taken from the
subject line and put in quotation marks), followed by the description Online posting.

3. Title of a book (underlined)

4. Name of the editor, compiler, or translator of the text (if relevant and if not cited earlier), preceded by the appropriate abbreviation, such as Ed.

5. Publication information for any print version of the source

6. Title of the scholarly project, database, periodical, or professional or personal site (underlined); or, for a professional or personal site with no title, s description such as Home page.

7. Name of the editor of the scholarly project or database (if available)

8. Version number of the source (if not part of the title) or, for a journal, the volume number, issue number, or other identifying number

9. Date of electronic publication, of the latest update, or of posting

10. For a work from a subscription service, the name of the service and-- if a library is the subscriber--the name and city (and state abbreviation, if necessary) of the library

11. For a posting to a discussion list or forum, the name of the list or forum

12. The number range or total number of pages, paragraphs, or other sections, if they are numbered

13. Name of any institution or organization sponsoring or associated with the Web site

14. Date when the researcher accessed the source

15. Electronic address, or URL, of the source (in angle brackets); or, for a subscription service, the URL of the service's main page (if known) or the keyword assigned by the service.

More Help With Documenting Electronic Sources

Bedford/St. Martins offers very useful guidelines and examples for documenting electronic sources via ONLINE! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources at
http://bedfordstmartins.com/online . Your course handbook also has a section on MLA style, which offers information on how to document sources of all types.

The first law of academic life is intellectual honesty. Academic relationships within the University community should be governed by a sense of honor, fair play, and trust, and a readiness to give appropriate credit to the intellectual endeavors of others where such credit is due. The following guidelines are provided as examples of ways in which these proper relationships and attitudes may break down.

One form of academic dishonesty is plagiarism. Plagiarism is intellectual larceny, the theft of ideas or their manner of expression. The following are examples of plagiarism:

A. Copying another student's test answers.

B. Taking an essay from a magazine and passing it off as one's own work.

C. Handing in as one's own work a paper purchased from an individual or agency.

D. Submitting as one's own papers from a living group, club or organization files.

A student will avoid being charged with plagiarizing if there is an acknowledgment of indebtedness:

1. Whenever one quotes another person's actual words;

2. Whenever one uses another person's idea, opinion or theory, even if it is completely paraphrased in one's own words; and,

3. Whenever one borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative materials--unless the information is common knowledge.

Students are urged to consults with individual faculty members, academic departments, or recognized handbooks in their field if in doubt.

Guidelines for Cases of Academic Dishonesty

Throughout the past several years, reported incidents of academic dishonesty have increased significantly. As these incidents have occurred, many individual faculty members have raised questions regarding appropriate action that may be taken in these situations. Following is an explanation of the University's policy and general procedures for handling cases of academic dishonesty.

Option A - A written reprimand or a requirement that the student repeat the work affected by the academic dishonesty. When the faculty member chooses to have the student repeat the assignment, the instructor will tell the student what grade penalty, if any, will be assessed for the initial error. A statement concerning this action will be forwarded to the Dean of Students Office by the faculty member. The student may contest the instructor's allegation by requesting a judicial hearing in the Dean of Students' Office. Any such request must be within five (5) working days from the time the student has been informed of the charge and the recommended resolution. If the student requests a hearing, the penalties for a guilty finding can be no more than the instructor initially prescribed.

Option B - A lower or failing grade on the particular assignment or test, a lower grade in the course, a failing grade in the course, or removal of the student from the course. A faculty member who chooses any of these sanctions must prepare a written report summarizing the reasons for the belief that academic dishonesty has occurred and the sanction. This report must be sent to the Dean of Students' Office. The student has five (5) working days from the time the student has been informed of the charge and the recommended resolution to request a judicial hearing on the charges from the Dean of Students' Office. If the student chooses to request a hearing in the Dean of Students' Office, the penalties for a guilty finding can be no more than those already indicated in this paragraph and initially prescribed by the instructor.

Option C - Direct referral of the charge by the faculty member to the Dean of Students' Office for adjudicating by the Undergraduate Student Judicial System. The minimum sanction for a guilty finding in these cases will be the X/F penalty as outlines in the "Policies of the Undergraduate Student Judicial system, part X, Disciplinary Sanction, sect. K," page 32. The student will be notified that the case has been referred and will be required to follow he standard procedures for adjudicating academic dishonesty cases on the University's Student Judicial System. When a student is accused of academic dishonesty and the case is referred to the judicial system, an "I" grade should be given for the work involved.

For more detailed information, click here  to go to the online version from the Student Handbook, or type in this URL: http://www.udel.edu/stuhb/00-01/deanstu/policy1.html#dishonesty

Assignment 7: Of the sources you've identified via the Web and the library's databases, select eight that you are likely to cite in your research paper. Write a Works Cited list, following the correct MLA format. (Note: if the source does not provide all of the information required by the format, provide whatever information is available in the order dictated.)

Submit the Works Cited list to your instructor, along with a photocopy or printout of a key page from each source.

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This site was written by Lara Whelan and Susan Bernadzikowski, with adaptations of work by Patricia Arnott. The site is maintained by Stephen Guerke. Last revised : August 2001.