Referencing and Credibility

Today, Mr. Paterson taught us about referencing and credibility in academic essays. According to his personal experience, not citing resources properly can get students kicked out of school. This is how gadgets such as zotero.org can come in really handy, as it'll make sure you don't put your citations in incorrect orders. We learned that facts only need a reference if it's not commonly available, or if it's in dispute. For example, the fact that Japan is an island, is common knowledge, therefore doesn't require a reference. But when talking about how many islands Japan contains, you need to site the source because some people might say that some of them belong to another country, and because it's not a piece of information everyone knows. However, when citing a source, you must keep credibility in mind. The teacher listed a couple of trustworthy sources such as the Embassy of Japan. Acquiring information from credible sources can help make your arguments much stronger because for example, when arguing that boys are smarter than girls, using information from someone's personal blogs is far less reliable compared to psychology studies. In addition, the sources' dates are important when it comes to its credibility. Your evidence should be within the date range depending on your subject. For example, if your topic is about computer viruses, it must be up to date since there are many new discoveries. By making sure that your resources are within a proper and trustworthy date range, you can make stronger claims. However, Mr. Paterson taught us that direct quotes should only take up less than ten percent of your writing. In our essays, we should try to paraphrase as much as possible. Unlike just directly quoting information, paraphrasing shows your ability to use your own words and is good academic practice. When I proofread my group mates' academic essays this afterschool, I'd like to be pretty keen. Then, I hope to be able to properly cite resources in my own essay as well using zotero and my own knowledge on credibility and referencing.