Students are starting to compose the first drafts for their papers, as a start to the continuing school work throughout the semester. Creating in-text citations and reference lists is part of writing essays and projects.
Since the process can be tedious, using a citation builder online, or on a word document, can make it slightly easier. However, Lois Quail, a librarian at Fanshawe College who helps students with citing their sources, said even those have mistakes.
“If a student is not aware of how citation is actually created, they may not be aware of the mistakes,” she said.
Along with plagiarism, which Quail says is a major academic offense in many schools across Canada, there are other consequences for improper references. These include losing marks, to being expelled from the college.
“I had a student come in who had done their citations incorrectly, and received a zero on that component of their essay,” she said, “Fortunately, they can come in and get extra assistance.”
Fanshawe’s library has pamphlets on proper formats, along with workshops to help with research. There will be a workshop tomorrow at 1 p.m., teaching students to “Cite it Right”.
