Social work: Referencing Support

Further content around plagiarism is available from Cite them right online.

Referencing at UoG

Various referencing styles are in use at the university. The social work courses use the Harvard style. 'Harvard' is a generic term which is used in the UK to refer to author-date styles, of which there are a number. The university uses the Cite Them Right version of Harvard.

Academic work requires you to read widely and to analyse the writings of others. This can add weight to your arguments. When using these works it is important that you acknowledge these sources of information.

What is referencing?

There are two parts to Harvard referencing:

• The citation - an abbreviation of your reference in the text of your assignment that indicates the source of the idea or research that you are referring to. It usually includes the author(s) and year of publication and sometimes a page number. 

"good critical thinking skills can help us to make much more realistic and accurate appraisals of our own abilities" (Cottrell, 2023, p. 6)

• The reference - includes full details of the item you have cited and is included in an alphabetical list at the end of your assignment. This information enables those reading your work to easily find what you have cited.

Cottrell, S. (2023) Critical thinking skills. London: Bloomsbury.

Why is referencing important?

Referencing correctly:

• demonstrates to your academics the breadth of your research

• gives supporting evidence for your ideas, arguments and opinions

• allows others to identify the sources you have used

• helps you avoid plagiarism by making it clear which ideas are your own and which are someone else's

• prepares you for industry, where you will need to abide by copyright law and intellectual property rights

Generative AI and the challenge of academic integrity

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are natural language chat bots trained to become familiar with patterns and structures from large data sets. The bots provide answers to questions by synthesising data to generate content.

If used appropriately, Generative AI does have the capacity to help students develop their understanding of subject matter or to become more critical learners. For example students could use it to:

• summarise their own notes or better structure their arguments
• synthesize a complex topic or set of issues into a more digestible format

Potential pitfalls 

Generative AI anonymises the original data sources and therefore provides no easy way for the user to assess their credibility, accuracy and bias, or indeed if the response generated has been correctly interpreted and synthesized appropriately. Using anonymised source material also creates an obvious attribution / referencing problem in an assessed or published piece of work, and increases the likelihood of plagiarism.

Advice

If you do use Generative AI make sure that you ask the right questions and carefully evaluate the answers. You will need to cross check any content generated.

Please refer to the University of Gloucestershire Guidance to students on the use of Generative AI in learning. 

See other sources

• How emerging artificial intelligence (AI) tools affect academic work 
• Use of artificial intelligence (AI) sources in academic work
• Student perceptions of generative AI a JISC report

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