Chapter 1. Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Introduction

In this activity, you will explore how to correctly acknowledge the contributions of others through APA-formatted citations, references, and paraphrasing.

Dr. Melanie Maggard

Dr. Natalie J. Ciarocco, Monmouth University

Dr. David B. Strohmetz, University of West Florida

Dr. Gary W. Lewandowski, Jr., Monmouth University

Something to Think About...

The contributions of many people advance science, and science evolves as we build upon past findings. Recognizing the research and achievements of others and how their work has provided the basis for our studies is imperative to our pursuit of scientific knowledge.

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Something to Think About...

The purpose of APA style goes beyond how to format research papers: APA style allows us to acknowledge previous studies that have inspired our own research. Knowing how to properly cite and reference our sources helps us give credit to those who have laid the foundations of research for us.

Instructions

Let’s find out if you are ready to acknowledge the contributions of others by testing your ability to format a citation, organize the elements of a reference, and paraphrase information for three articles and a book. If you need help, you can refer to the appendix in your textbook that covers communicating research results.

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Reference Formatting

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Citation Formatting

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Paraphrasing

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You want to include the following sentence from page 1131 of this article in your paper, but decide to paraphrase in order to avoid plagiarizing and overusing direct quotes:

“Because comparisons with the media ideal seem to occur so naturally for many women, perhaps future prevention efforts could focus on reshaping the content of these comparisons.”

Reference Formatting

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Citation Formatting

Select the image for a closer look and answer the question below.

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Paraphrasing

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You want to include the following sentence from page 238 of this article in your paper, but decide to paraphrase in order to avoid plagiarizing and overusing direct quotes:

“In the current study, women tended to feel better about themselves after being exposed to images of women who were less representative of the thin and attractive sociocultural ideal.”

Reference Formatting

Select the image for a closer look and answer the question below.

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Citation Formatting

Select the image for a closer look and answer the question below.

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Paraphrasing

Select the image for a closer look and answer the question below.

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You want to include the following sentence from page 668 of this article in your paper, but decide to paraphrase in order to avoid plagiarizing and overusing direct quotes:

“Mainstream North American media promotes the message that attaining a thin, youthful appearance is central to a woman’s value and social role while appearing older is highly undesirable.”

Reference Formatting

Select the image for a closer look and answer the question below.

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Citation Formatting

Select the image for a closer look and answer the question below.

© Blue Jean Images/Corbis

Paraphrasing

Select the image for a closer look and answer the question below.

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You want to include the following sentence from page 283 of this book in your paper, but decide to paraphrase in order to avoid plagiarizing and overusing direct quotes:

“But overall, the kinds of relationships that are formed online tend to be more superficial and are characterized by weaker ties than the relationships that people tend to have with family members and significant others who appear in one’s life face to face on a daily basis.”

Take Home Message

Giving credit to previous research is crucial to the advancement of science, allowing others to see the research support for our conclusions while we acknowledge the importance of previous work. Referencing and citing works helps us disclose how we obtained knowledge. Paraphrasing requires us to know the material well enough to put it uniquely into our own words.

All of these techniques, addressed by APA style, allow us to avoid plagiarism and to acknowledge the contributions of other researchers—all while putting our own research into action!

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