ENG519

Charles Darwin University acknowledges all
First Nations people across the lands on
which we live and work, and we pay our
respects to Elders both past and present.

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Types of information and being critical of your sources

Search Tools: Library Search, Google Scholar, Databases

Referencing and how to avoid plagiarism

What are we talking about today?

How do you start

searching?

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SURFACE WEB

DARK WEB

DEEP
WEB

Illegal information

Private communications

Trafficking sites

TOR-Encrypted sites

Academic information
Medical records

Legal documents

Scientific reports

Subscription information

Multilingual Databases
Conference proceedings

Government resources

Competitor Websites

Organisation-specific Repositories

Wikipedia

Google

Bing

Social Media

Setting up Successful Search Strategies

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1. Analyse
your topic

2. Brainstorm

and read

3. Combine
search terms

Break your research down into a step-by-step process.

It is hard to do research for a project without knowing

something about your topic.

Step 1:
Analyse

your
topic

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Break down the question, what do you need to know to
answer the assignment question? What do you need to
produce or create?
• Read through all the unit requirements and assignment task
• Choosing a Topic:

• Select your topic
• Summarise what you think you will need to do for this

topic

• What will you need to do?

• Find (literature/sources)
• Method/s (measure/investigate)
• Build/ implement
• Produce

• What do you already know?

Step 2:

Brainstorm

and

reading

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Brainstorming and reading about your topic can help you understand
some of the major concepts surrounding your assignment question.

• You might want to do a Google search to get some basic

understanding.

• Then try tools such as Google Scholar and Library Search, or subject

specific databases via the library.

• Do a simple search on your topic.

• Read the abstract of a few articles- are there any issues that stand

out?

• Refine your search by trying different keywords and different search

refinements (e.g. date of publication or resource type such as
article/book).

• Try different tools.

Step 3:
Combine

search
terms

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Don’t lose track of what you are

really looking for.

•Choose an appropriate search tool

•Enter search terms/words

•Read through results

•Add to or change search terms

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How can you evaluate sources?

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Currency

The timeliness of the information

Is this source current for my topic?

Things to think about:

• When was the information published or posted?

• Has the information been reviewed or updated? Are

the links current and functional if it is a website?

• Does your topic require current information, or will

older resources work as well?

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The importance of the information for your needs

Does the information relate to your topic or answer

your question?

Things to think about:

• Who is the intended audience?

• Is the information at an appropriate level, not too

basic or advanced

• Is the information unique? (Can it be found in a

scholarly book or article rather than a website)

Relevance

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The source of the information

Who created the information?

Things to think about:

• Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?

• What are the author's credentials and affiliations?

• Are the author/s recognised experts in their field?

• Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email address?

• Does the URL reveal anything about the sources e.g. .com, .edu, .gov, .au

• Has the source been peer reviewed?

Authority

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The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the

information listed

Is it clear where the information comes from?

Things to think about:

• Is the information supported by evidence? Has the

author cited the sources they used?

• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?

• Does the language or tone seem unbiased?

• Is the source free from spelling, grammar or typing errors?

Accuracy

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The reason why the resource was created

What was the resource created for, and why?

Things to think about:

• What is the purpose of the information? Is it to

inform or teach, sell, entertain or persuade?

• Does the author make their intentions or purpose clear?

• Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?

• Is it trying to inform you or sell you something?

• Does it make reasonable statements? Or dramatic claims?

Purpose

The Credibility Spectrum

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LESS CREDIBLE

MORE CREDIBLE

C Currency

R Relevance

A Authority

A Accuracy

P Purpose

undated

old

current

pressure group

general public

academic

unidentified

individual opinion

cited expert

PEER REVIEW

no credible references

obvious omissions

cited references

2 verifying sources

significant unacknowledged bias

acknowledged bias

balanced

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Library Search

Pros
•Can limit to resource type e.g., a book or a
journal article

•Can limit your results to peer-review articles

•Can limit to subject area

•Full text access to most resources that you
can’t find anywhere else

Cons
•Searches can be more complicated, keywords
really matter

•Won’t search in every database or find most
free material that is online

Google Scholar

Pros
•Friendly searching—tells you if your spelling is
incorrect, and suggests other searches

•Great for snowball searching

•A very broad search across a lot of material

Cons
•No guarantee of full text access

•Won’t search every database

•Retrieves material that isn’t academic

•Search algorithm may not bring back the most
relevant results

Compare tools

Save resources as you go!

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Pin to your Library folder

Use Endnote

Use citation tools (or email*)

Reference your

information

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Demonstrate to your lecturer that you have read widely across
the literature on that topic

Enable any reader to find the resources that you read, heard,
or watched, and referred to in your work

Acknowledge your sources

Avoid plagiarism

Why do we reference?

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Fabrication

of data

Failure to

credit sources

Recycling
your work

Inaccurate
referencing

Presenting
others work
as your own

Unauthorised
collaboration

What does plagiarism involve?

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Degree or other award rescinded

Expelled from the university

Excluded from the university for 12 months

A fail grade for the whole unit

Serious Consequences

How to avoid plagiarism

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“

”

• Cite and reference all resources used

• Use the correct format of referencing – be consistent

• Use quotation marks or block quotes for all direct

quotes – do not overuse quotes

• Write in your own words

• When paraphrasing DO NOT only change a few words,

re-write and cite/reference

• Summarise what you have read – cite/reference

• Do your own work

Paraphrasing, Quoting, and Summarising

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Paraphrasing

Quoting

Summarising

•Putting all of the information
from a source and putting them
into your own words.

•Used only from a short passage
of source (e.g. not a whole
article/book).

•Different words and structure
than the original source.

Example: In the Northern Territory
you cannot refuse to grant a tenancy
agreement based on race.

•Using the exact same words as
the source you are using.

•Used for short, interesting
passage or to show authority.

•Used to give an example or give
support.

Example:
You cannot refuse a tenant based on
‘gender, race or ethnic origin’.

•Records a source at any length.

•Condenses and includes only
main ideas.

•May explain or interpret an idea.

Example: In the Northern Territory
there are specific laws that guide the
application of tenancy. This includes
anti discrimination.

Examples based on Northern Territory Law Handbook
http://austlii.community/foswiki/NTLawHbk/Renting#Discrimination

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3. Reference

using the
resource
format

2. Find the
resource
type in the

guide

1. Locate
your style’s
referencing

guide

3 Steps to Referencing

Referencing Style Guides

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What does referencing look like?

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IN-TEXT

CITATIONS

REFERENCE

LIST

PLACE AT

THE END OF

YOUR
REPORT

In-Text Citations

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Narrative Citation

Author/s (date) state that rising…

If the citation is removed and the sentence no
longer makes sense use a narrative citation.

Parenthetical Citation

…for future use (Author date).

If the citation is removed and the sentence still

makes sense, use a parenthetical citation

Author(s)

Date

Page number

Use a page number if you are quoting. E.g:

Social workers are practice providers and “are frequently leaders in providing crisis
intervention services to individuals, families, and groups" (Mirabito 2017, p. 118).

Author

Date

Title

Source

What are the four basic elements
required to create a reference?

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How to Reference: a book

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Author, AA & Author, BB Year of publication, Title of
book, edition., Publisher.

Whetten, DA & Cameron, KS

2016,

Pearson.
Developing management skills, 9th edn.,

How to Reference: a book chapter

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Chapter author Year of publication, ‘Chapter title’, in Book editor(s) (ed. or eds.), Book title
in italics, edition., Publisher, pp. chapter page numbers.

Fleischman, R & McLean, T
‘Management accounting: Theory
and practice’,

in JR Edwards & SP

Walker (eds.),

2020,

Taylor & Francis, pp. 214-251.

The Routledge

companion to accounting history,

How to Reference: a journal article

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Author, AA & Author, BB Year of publication, ‘Article title’,
Journal Title, vol(no):page-page.

Berger, AN & Black, LK

‘Bank size, lending technologies,

and small business finance’, Journal of Banking & Finance,

2011,

35(3):724-735.

How to Reference: a web page

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Australian Competition & Consumer Commission n.d.,
Competition and anti-competitive behaviour,
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/competition/competition-
and-anti-competitive-behaviour

How to Reference: a report

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Department of Finance

https://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-

10/Department_of_Finance_Annual_Report_2021-22.pdf

2022, Annual report 2021-22,

Australian

Government,

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EndNote

What about AI?

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•AI or Artificial Intelligence is a field
of science that aims to create
intelligent machines

•GenAI or Generative AI can
generate output such as images,
text, and audio

•AI is not a shortcut and should not
be used to avoid doing your work

•Any use of AI must be permitted
and responsible

Know the strengths and weaknesses

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•Research a tool before using it.

•Watch/read tutorials and learn
how to use it effectively.

•Pay attention to privacy and
user agreements.

•Critically evaluate the tool and
its output. Don’t be fooled by
misinformation.

•Keep up to date with new
features and updates.

Using and Referencing AI

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Did you acknowledge/reference your use of the tool?

Have you used the tool responsibly?

Are you allowed to use the tool?

Check out the Study Skills page

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Scan the code to

go to the page now

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Where to get help

Academic Language and Learning
Success Program
OR
Online Tutor (in Learnline)

•How to edit and proofread your writing

•Academic language assistance

•Structure and format assistance

•Paraphrasing, summarising and citing

CDU Library

•Finding relevant information

•Using research tools

•Evaluating resources

•Referencing using CDU Harvard

Your Lecturer/Tutor

•The content of your assignment

•The specific requirements of submission

•The format and final layout of your essay

•Clarification of tasks

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Any questions?

askthelibrary@cdu.edu.au

08 8946 7016

+61 4 8885 0811 (text only)

FAQs on the Library website

Book a Librarian: https://www.cdu.edu.au/library/librarians