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Please ensure you have read through the HARVARD REFERENCING METHOD by clicking on the confirmation tab below.

HARVARD REFERENCING METHOD

IN-TEXT REFERENCES

THE MAIN ELEMENTS

  • The Basics
  • Plagiarism
  • Method 1 and 2

THE BASICS

  • All your factual statements should be referenced. Even if you drew your own conclusion, we want to see references to back up your argument.
  • Place your reference at the end of the statement / sentence – not at the end of the paragraph paragraph. E.g.:
    • Gray (1990, pages 278-283) describes 3 different models that represent the functional units in the brain that deal with all the possible emotions an animal may experience.
      Or
    • These external stimuli can be either rewards or punishers, or changes in the values of rewards or punishers (Rolls, 1990, page 165).
  • Remember that all facts you obtain from a source must be properly acknowledged.
  • Don’t just use your notes as reference!
  • Please do remember that Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable source.

PLAGIARISM

What is plagiarism?

  • Using any information from a source, word-for-word, without acknowledging the source is considered plagiarism.
  • It constitutes stealing intellectual property.
  • If you copy a piece of text and only change a word here or there, this is also plagiarism.
  • COAPE also considers excessive direct quotations as plagiarism – even if referenced.
  • If you use direct quotations, properly referenced, never use more than 2% of your entire word count for the whole assignment (about 2 sentences), and remember to use quotation marks.
  • What we want to ideally see is that you use the information you obtained to support your argument. That means making your own original statement, and just supplying references to back up what you’ve said.

How can you avoid plagiarism?

  • If you quote directly from a source, use quotation marks and then place the source reference directly after the sentence:
    • “Anything that causes some kind of behavioural response is called a stimulus” (Pryor, 1999:68).
  • Don’t use more than about 2 or 3 direct quotes for your entire assignment.
  • If you are using information from a source, state it in your own words and indicate the source reference. We want to see your understanding of the information. E.g.:
    • Dogs experience a window for socialisation which is critical to their development; the window opens from 4 – 16 weeks old (Coppinger & Coppinger, 2001:106-107).

REFERENCING METHODS

  • There are 2 possible ways in which you can reference (discussed below). Whichever method you choose, please stick to ONE method of referencing. So don’t use a footnote in one instance and then switch over to putting the references in brackets.
  • Your references do not count as part of your word count. This is where the footnote function (Method 1) comes in handy! If you highlight your answer Word will give you a word count. When you use footnotes, Word automatically excludes them, giving you an accurate count. If you use Method 2, you will have to manually subtract the total references from the word count to see how many words you have used.
  • All questions must be properly referenced; even multiple choice questions.

REFERENCING METHOD 1

This is the preferred method and is by far the easiest to use.
  • Make use of MSWord’s Footnote or Endnote function.
  • Go to the “References” tab and select “insert footnote” (or Endnote if you prefer).
  • When you need to add a reference, click on “insert footnote” and type your reference.
  • The great thing about this method is that Word will automatically update your numbers. So if you need to add a reference at a later stage it will update all the numbers for you.
  • In your footnote, type the author, year, book/article name and page numbers.
  • Type the information in full for each footnote you type.
  • Exception:
    • If you use a specific reference and your next reference is exactly the same, you may type Ibid. This basically means “same as previous”. BUT The reference above must then be EXACTLY the same, including page numbers. If any part is different, rather re-type the entire reference.
At the end of your entire assignment, please remember to type your List of References. (More on how to do this here).

REFERENCING METHOD 2

This method is not preferred, but is also allowed.
  • At the end of the statement / sentence, put your reference in brackets.
  • You only need to give the Author, Year, and page number in brackets:
    • “…example” (Pryor, 2005: 18). Or
    • “…example” (Pryor, 2005, p18).
  • Then, at the end of the question, type the reference in full, as you would in your List of References. There is no need to give the page numbers here. This list will basically look the same as your list of references.At the end of your entire assignment, please remember to type your List of References.
  • If you are using a source that has no publication date, such as a website, you can indicate it in one of the following ways:
    • (Smith, no date) OR
    • (Smith, [sa])
Other possible problems with source information are discussed in the following section.

LIST OF REFERENCES

THE MAIN ELEMENTS

  • Author
  • Year of Publication
  • The Name of the Book or Article
  • Publication Details
These elements are all essential in order for any reader to be able to easily find your source material.

LIST OF REFERENCES

At the end of your Assignment you will have a List of References:

  • Alphabetize according to author.
    • If you have two entries by the same author, you’ll arrange them from the oldest to the newest.
      Pryor, K. 2005.
      Pryor, K. 2015.
  • Only list each source once.
    • The exception to this rule is when you have referenced different pages on one website. Then you want one entry per “article”. For example:
      Dog Breed Info Centre. [Sa]. Akita. Available from: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/akita.htm (Accessed 5 May 2016).
      Dog Breed Info Centre. [Sa]. English Cocker Spaniel. Available from: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/englishcocker.htm (Accessed 5 May 2016).
  • You don’t need to list the page numbers of books in the List of References. But you do need to list them for journal entries.

AUTHOR

The author is always listed surname first, then initials:

Karen Pryor.
Pryor, Karen.
Pryor, K.

What about websites?

  • Some websites have articles written by specific authors.
  • If there is no obvious author, the ‘company’ is the author. For example:
    Dog Breed Info Centre. [Sa]. Akita. Available from: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/akita.htm (Accessed 5 May 2016).
  • For two authors, use the ampersand symbol (&) to separate them:
    • Coppinger, R. & Coppinger, L.
  • Dictionaries / Encyclopaedias usually do not have authors listed. In That case you would use the name of the dictionary as the author.
    • Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. 2000.

If no author or company name is available, we use the article name instead.

HOWEVER

Sources with unidentifiable authors are not recommended. It would be better to look for another source with the same information.

YEAR OF PUBLICATION

  • The year of publication is found inside the book, usually on the first printed page
  • If you cannot find it inside the book, use your book’s ISBN and check on Amazon.
  • If you have two references by the exact same author, in the exact same year, you would list them as follows:
    • Pryor, K. 2005a.
    • Pryor, K. 2005b.
  • If this is the case, remember in your in-text references to specify whether you are referencing 2005a or 2005b.
  • If you have two references by the exact same author / website and neither have a date of publication, you will not add ‘a’ or ‘b’. You will then identify them by article / book name. This rarely happens, however.

Internet Sources:

  • Published articles will have a year of publication.
  • Most websites do not have a year of publication for articles. For those sources we use [Sa] or no date:
    Pryor, K. [Sa].
    Or
    Pryor, K. No date.
  • In-text a source without a date would be referenced as:
    (Pryor, Sa: 7) or (Pryor, no date: 7)

PUBLICATION DETAILS

Books:

  • On the same page you found the date of publication, you’ll find the publisher and place of publication:

    Pryor, K. 1999. Don’t shoot the dog! USA: Bantam Books.
    • If the book was published in the USA, give the town/city name, and the State abbreviation. E.g.: Boston, MA: Bantam Books. Boston is the town, MA is the State abbreviation for Massachusetts. You can find a list of these on the internet. If the publication details only list a State, then type it in full. If it only states USA, you may use that.
    • For any other countries of publication, you only need to give the city or town as listed in the book.

Journals:

  • You need the journal name, volume number, issue number and page numbers:
    • Rescorla, R.A. & Lolordo, V.M. 1965. Inhibition of avoidance behavior. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 59(3):406-412.

Websites

For website entries we use the URL (the web address) as the publication information, as well as the date that you visited the website.

  • Dog Breed Info Centre. [Sa]. Akita. Available from: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/akita.htm (Accessed 5 May 2016).

IMPORTANT:

Make sure that you copy URLs correctly and double check that they work! We want the direct link to the article and not just the home page of the relevant website. If your marker cannot open the link, you will lose marks.

EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT SOURCES

  • An example of a book reference:
    Pryor, K. 2005. Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs. Waltham, MA: Sunshine books.
    • Note that the name of the book is in italics.
    • The place of publication comes directly after the book name. If it was published in the USA, give the town/city name, and the State abbreviation. You can find a list of these on the internet. If the publication details only list a State, then type it in full.
  • A specific chapter in an edited source:
    Serpell, J.A. 2000. Domestication and history of the cat. In Turner, D.C. & Bateson, P. (Eds). The Domestic Cat: The biology of its behaviour. UK: Cambridge University Press.
    • Note that the original book name is in italics, and not the chapter name. In your in-text references, you will reference it as Serpell (2000) and not Turner & Bateson (2000). Basically whatever name you used in-text should be the first name to appear in your list of references for that specific reference.
  • An article from an online source:
    Dog Breed Info Centre. [Sa]. English Cocker Spaniel. Available from: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/englishcocker.htm (Accessed 5 May 2016).
    • For online sources, you don’t need to italicize the titles. This is because it hasn’t been published in the traditional sense.
    • For specific entries in website-based encyclopaedias like Dog Breed Info, you will use the breed name as the article name, as it appears on the website.
    • You must give a date of access. This is the date you visited the website to get the information. If you visited it more than once, just give the latest date.
    • Make double sure the link you give works and that it is not password protected.
    • Please never just give a website link. You have to give an author (or company name), the name of the article, and the date of access. If the article has more than 1 page, please also give page numbers.
    • If you are referring to the home page of a website, use ‘Home Page’ as the article name.
  • An article in a journal:
    Rescorla, R.A. & Lolordo, V.M. 1965. Inhibition of avoidance behavior. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 59(3):406-412.
    • Note that the journal name is in italics, and not the article name.
    • This is followed by the Volume number (59) and the Issue number in brackets (3).
    • In your in-text reference, you will give the specific page number that you are referring to, like p404 for example. In your list of references, however, you need to give the range of pages on which the entire article appears. That is because journals contain more than one article.
    • If you found the journal online, it will most likely give you the volume number, issue, and page numbers. If you cannot find this information on the webpage, you may give the direct website link instead of the volume, issue and page numbers. But remember to include the date of access.
    • If you only used the abstract of an article and not the full article, please state so in your entry by putting ‘abstract’ in brackets after the article name.
  • For COAPE SA Diploma notes:
    COAPE. 2016. COAPE SA Diploma in Animal Behaviour: Module 1 Course Notes.
    Or
    COAPE. 2016. Section B: Understanding the Emotional Brain of Companion Animals. In COAPE SA Diploma in Animal Behaviour: Module 2 Course Notes.
    • For your in-text references, please remember to give page numbers!
  • For COAPE SA Diploma lectures:
    Pienaar, K. 2017. Lecture given on [topic] at the COAPE SA Diploma Module 2 lecture weekend. 7 May, Johannesburg
    • For a specific lecture contribution, please give the name of the relevant lecturer. The topic they discussed is the “article” name. You must also give the specific day, and the area where the lecture was presented.
    • Please note it is preferred that you don’t use lectures as references if possible.

OTHER ISSUES

  • If you use a physical book in your list of references that is not on our reading list, please check with the office whether your tutor has access to this book. If not, you will have to provide us with a scanned copy of the relevant pages.
  • If you are using a PDF reader such as Kindle, you will not be able to list page numbers. In such an instance please try to give us a location number. This is how you would indicate that you are using a Kindle edition:
    • Pryor, K. 1999. Don’t shoot the dog! [Kindle ed.].

BITS AND PIECES

THE MAIN ELEMENTS

  • Pictures
  • Text Colour & Font
  • Naming your Assignment
  • Submitting your Assignment
  • Sourcing articles
  • Spelling & Grammar

PICTURES

  • Please do not use pictures in your Assignment unless they are essential to your answer.
  • You do not have to provide us with pictures of dog breeds.

Text Colour & Font

  • Please use black text only, as far as possible.
  • If you need to use colour for specific distinctions within your answer, please never use red.
  • Do not change the font within your assignment. COAPE uses Tahoma 11.

Sourcing Articles

  • The use of Wikipedia is not allowed, as it is an unmoderated source.
  • If you use Google to look for articles, please use Google Scholar.

Spelling & Grammar

  • Please do a spelling and grammar check before submitting your assignment, especially if English is not your first language.

Using etc.

  • Don’t use “etc.”, especially when making factual statements. Rather list all the things you are referring to.

Naming your Assignment

  • Remember to include your name inside your assignment, on the first page.
  • When you save your assignment, also place your name in your assignment file name:

    Joe Smith COAPE SA Diploma Y1
    Module 2 Assignment Workbook 2017.docx

Submitting your Assignment

  • Assignments should only be sent to:
    [email protected]
  • The COAPE SA office will acknowledge receipt within 24 hours during the week, or on the next working day if you submit over the weekend.
  • It is your responsibility to check that we have received the assignment if we don’t acknowledge within this time.
  • Remember that you lose 5% per day for late submission!
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